Face Down
by fullmetalgryffindor
Summary: Miscommunications, accidental abuses, and the difficulties of dating your brother.  It hurts too much to be apart, but staying together just might be impossible too. Yaoi, incest.
1. Face Down

This is (loosely) based on the song Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, which I do not own nor make money off of. I don't own or make money off the characters either.

"You've come out to your friends already, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Then why can't we tell them about us?"

"Sasuke." The glare directed his way still scared him but he was pretty sure he hid just how much it terrified him. Only Itachi could look intimidating while washing dishes. "We are not going to announce to my friends that I take advantage of my little brother in such a way." Itachi handed Sasuke another dish to dry.

"You don't take advantage of me! I practically beg you to screw me." He cautiously put distance between them. He knew Itachi hated having this argument but some of his brother's friends were coming over tonight and he was tired of watching them paw at his brother.

"Even worse. A group of horny college students should not know that one of their friends has access to a hot slut." Itachi had to admit it turned him on when his brother acted like a slut, but only when Sasuke was a slut for him. Backhanded compliments were one of his strong points, anyway.

Sasuke quietly closed the cabinet on the last dish. He thought for a moment, staring at his brother's back as he wiped down the counters with his back to him. "So…" he approached his brother and hugged him from behind. "You think I'm hot?"

Trapped between his brother and the counter, Itachi sighed aloud and turned around. "They'll be here any minute now. Let go so I can finish-"

Sasuke could care less what his brother had to finish doing- he had said something sweet for once. Standing on his tip-toes, he still had to pull Itachi's head down the last few inches by his hair to connect their mouths. His brother responded hungrily to him, his mouth the dessert to their just eaten dinner. Itachi dove his tongue into the younger's mouth, tasting a little of dinner but much more of his brother's taste. Moving on their own his hands grabbed Sasuke's butt cheeks and lifted him a little, grinding into him. As usual, Sasuke had one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hair, clinging to him in that pleasantly desperate way.

Itachi glanced at the clock; if they were quick and he kept Sasuke from pushing this too much, they had time for a blow job. While Sasuke always came quicker he also admitted-grudgingly, of course- of the two, his brother was better at it. And Itachi knew just how to convince him. He massaged his butt with one hand and with the other swiped some of their spit from the side of Sasuke's mouth onto his fingers, something Sasuke couldn't be bothered to notice because Itachi had actually allowed him to have _his_ tongue in his older brother's mouth; a rare event considering Itachi didn't like the idea of being penetrated even orally. Sasuke did notice when those two fingers slipped into his backdoor just the past the knuckle, acknowledging the intrusion with an "uhn."

Itachi suddenly jerked his mouth away with a smirk. "Well, otouto. You're rather bold tonight." He thrust his digits in a little more and enjoyed the look of pleasure that took over otouto's face. He was thoroughly hard at this point and he ground into his brother again to convey the feeling. "Now I'm even going so far as to _dirty_ my hands just to please _you_." He shoved his fingers in harder at key words, then began a slow but deep rhythm. "So what do you think you should do to repay me?"

"Re- ah!- repay?" It took more effort than usual to focus on what those words meant and what Itachi really wanted. He always wanted something. Itachi smirked at him. "Starts with 'blow' and ends with me cumming in your mouth?"

Oh. That comment got Sasuke thinking, especially about how sore his throat and mouth were going to be afterwards. Itachi liked being rough. "But then I have to brush my teeth again and my voice will sound funny."

The elder understood if he didn't like the taste sitting in his mouth, but what was he taking about his voice for? "What do you mean, 'sound funny'?"

Aniki was frowning now and had pulled his fingers out. Uh-oh. "Nothing." Acting rapidly, he dropped to his knees and had his brother's dick out and in his mouth in less than thirty seconds. He suckled on the tip and was relieved when his brother's head tipped back and his fingers dug harshly into his hair. The slightest moan escaped from the elder's mouth above, the second rare occurrence of the night. He summoned his slutty expression and asked, "is this a good payment, nii-san?"

He winced when his hair was jerked violently to the side. "You know better than to call me that when we're doing this." He looked over at the clock again. "Hurry up. Suck me." Sasuke silently resumed his task, now worried that the college group really would be here soon. He took all of the length inside his mouth, rubbing his tongue along the bottom, swallowing around it, then bobbing his head quickly in the hopes that the effort on his part would placate his brother enough that he wouldn't thrust on his own. As he pulled up again he paused to lick at the slit so he could catch his breath a bit. Itachi had told him once that he shouldn't be so out of breath from a mere blow-job, which of course meant that he was weak. And weakness was simply not tolerated in their house.

He was ready to go back down when the doorbell rang. Startled, he looked at his brother and tried to move away but the hands held him there. "Itachi, please!" He knew the door was unlocked so surely the boys would notice soon and then they would come walking down the hallway and into the kitchen and see him on his knees in front of his brother, sucking him off… he wanted Itachi to be open about their relationship, but there were better ways to express it!

Itachi interpreted that 'please' quite differently, so he shoved Sasuke's head down and thrust cruelly into his mouth, coming quickly. Sasuke squirmed as the fluid flooded his mouth, not liking the salty taste but Itachi expected him to swallow it all so he did, trying his best not to squirm. Itachi took his movements to mean he liked it, and the thought brought another shot out of him. The doorbell ominously rang again, and Sasuke barely had time to swallow before Itachi was shoving him off and putting himself back in his pants.

"Come on in! It's open!" He shouted to his friends and then went over to the cabinet to get out the chips. "Go brush your teeth." Sasuke remained exactly where he was. Itachi went over to the fridge to get out the dip and drinks, but Sasuke was in the way. "Move." He looked down at his younger brother who had a strange expression on his face, which was still sloppy from the wet kisses and the wetter blow job. "Wash your face, too." Speaking lowly but with the icy tone that made people shiver, he nudged his brother with his foot. He could hear his guests in the doorway and in the next room, taking off their shoes and loudly greeting each other. Sasuke still hadn't moved, just kept staring with a look Itachi wasn't in the mood to decipher. "Now is not the time to be a bitch, otouto."

Kisame's booming voice told Itachi he was right in the hallway and any moment he would walk through the doorway near the opposite wall. Feeling Sasuke had given him no other option, he yanked his brother up by the collar and, ignoring the weak whimper that slipped from his little brother's mouth, he all but threw him into the hallway. "Go clean yourself up." There was a rather loud thud and another whimper, but Itachi ignored it. Sasuke had been given ample opportunity to obey. Kisame was in the room by now, and as he shut the fridge he spared a glance to the dark hallway and saw his brother stumble towards the bathroom, holding the side of his head. Itachi mentally shrugged and began conversing with his blue-haired friend about their class that day, inwardly reflecting that the only reason Sasuke would be so stubborn was because he wanted to get off, and if Sasuke wanted to get off that badly he should just masturbate instead of causing trouble. Damn teenagers.

Sasuke nearly fell into the bathroom. He shut the door and took a deep breath before he turned on the light. Ew. His eyes were tearing up against his will, and there was the faintest trickle of blood from a cut on his forehead. Damn picture. Except it was the last photo of his parents, so really it was the damn glass picture frame he hated. He lifted his hair and saw it wasn't too bad; only an inch long and pretty shallow. He cleaned the small cut and put a band-aid over it, trying to find the lightest colored one they had and using a touch of make-up to cover the edges so it would blend in, then messed his bangs around so they covered the band-aid fully. He splashed water around his messy mouth then brushed his teeth. He knew he was supposed to obey Itachi and that he probably deserved this, but… he didn't always like it. He couldn't explain why he hadn't moved when Itachi commanded it, but he recognized that he wanted his brother to be sweet and since his body agreed with him… perhaps that's why it decided not to move.

Washing his spit down the sink and putting away his toothbrush and paste, he inspected himself in the mirror. He felt clean again, though his lips were darker and his throat still felt raw. The boys in the living room were getting loud, and he thought he heard his name. Sasuke wanted to procrastinate a little longer but didn't have a reason; he was still kind of hard yet not in the mood to masturbate, and he didn't have to go to the bathroom.

So he walked out, deciding to go through the kitchen. More often than not, Itachi's friends would try to get him to hang out with them, though Sasuke didn't have the faintest clue _why_, so he figured that he would chill in the kitchen for a bit so if they wanted they could pull him into their games. Once they had pulled him out of his room half-asleep after he had gone to bed early because he was sick. He had wished Itachi would stop them, especially because he had a fever, but because he had refused to give in to demands for sex (on the basis of being sick) Itachi let his friends continue to mess with him. The group forced him to play some loud game that had to do with yelling a lot. Their claim was that being sick was a lame excuse, and if he was tired then they didn't mind if he slept in front of them. Even so, they were sort of fun when they weren't being annoying.

"Hey, Itachi, where's that adorable brother of yours?" Deidara spoke around a chip and reaching for another. Itachi heard hesitant footsteps in the other room. "Kitchen." Deidara happily jumped up to go drag his brother into the group. Sasuke made cute faces, mostly when he was having fun, but also when he was embarrassed. So he didn't mind if his friends joked around with him; after all, Sasuke should know some older guys who could be brotherly in the normal way. Deidara, though; he had to watch out for him. Itachi didn't like the looks he gave Sasuke, or that he was always finding an excuse to touch him on the arm or back or something. He talked to Kisame about it, but his friend assured him it was all in his head, which naturally assured Itachi he was right.

Kisame butted in to his thoughts. "Have you found a boyfriend yet? Because I know an available guy who fucks like an animal. In a good way." He gestured to himself with a pizza bagel and chuckled.

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "I'm not looking for a boyfriend _or_ a casual fuck."

"Then why come out to us? If you're not looking for one, then you must have a boy already. When can we meet him?" This was a problem. He should have known people would start asking questions. Maybe he should tell them about Sasuke…

"But I can't believe you've been seeing someone for almost three months and we haven't noticed a thing. The only person I ever see you hang with is Sasuke. And that… just wouldn't be right, would it?" The expression of disgust on his friend's face reminded Itachi why this was going to remain a secret. It would be wrong to expose a sweet kid like Sasuke to humiliation. Instead, he reluctantly leaned into Kisame, dropping his head onto the muscular shoulder dramatically. "I'm sorry, it's just been difficult… I may have told you about my orientation, but telling others is different."

While Itachi applauded his acting skills, Kisame did a little victory dance. Not only did he have physical contact, but his sexy friend was initiating it. "No matter what happens, I can take care of you." He bent his head lower to speak only for Itachi, "I can take care of other things for you… if you know what I mean."

Itachi refused to acknowledge the football player's nonsense, but knew he had to show some sort of sexual inclination to men other than his brother so he allowed Kisame's hand to rest in his hair, trying not to think about how his brother had grabbed at his hair so wildly before in the kitchen. "So where are Hidan and Kakuzu? It was their turn to come up with something to do."

Sasori, seated over by the window, spoke in a voice that was quiet but still heard through the noise. "Hidan decided to be Catholic this week, so he is against homosexuality until next Wednesday. He sends blessings or something." Itachi smirked. Sadly, Hidan was the least eccentric of their group.

"Then I guess Kakuzu is at home throwing a fit because he won't be getting any?" Kisame interjected lewdly.

"No." Sasori stoically replied. "He informed me over the telephone that he would order a prostitute and fuck him into next week. Which could mean he would fuck him so hard he would be pushed into next week, or that he would continue fucking him until the next week has come." The room was awkwardly silent for a minute, because only Sasori could think about two of his friends fucking and be analyzing the sentence structure.

Deidara came bounding in then, laughing and dragging Sasuke along by his hand. "Sasuke, how on earth did you get so funny when your brother is such a stick in the mud?" Sasuke shrugged, amused by the blond man's enthusiasm for everything. He snuck a peak at his brother and took in his brother's disapproving stare- and Kisame's hand on his arm- as the blond man pulled him by the hand he still held down into the couch beside him. He immediately tried to make it better, trying to ignore how much it bugged him that the giant football player was all over his lover. As usual. "I'm not very funny. Aniki has a good sense of humor but his jokes require thought. Don't worry if you don't understand them, though, because we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself figuring them out." Laughter filled the room as the group enjoyed Deidara jokes, and Sasuke carefully reclaimed his hand. He glanced at his brother and smiled to himself. Nii-san was pleased at the compliment because he looked less annoyed, and he knew Deidara wouldn't mind. He looked up at the man sitting next to him to be sure and found that he was indeed smiling.

"You'll be the death of me before you know it. You are just too cute." Yeah, the blond man knew Itachi was trying so hard not to glare at him. It was a pretty close toss-up if the reason was Itachi's overprotective instincts or the jealousy of a lover. The kid was cute, but Deidara thought he was pretty fuckable too, and so was working towards that _very_ slowly. Wouldn't want to scare off the precious little boy, now would we?

Sasuke scowled. "I am not cute." This conversation needed to go somewhere else. "So what are we doing tonight? And where are those other three guys? And why isn't Uncle Madara coming?"

Kisame knew Itachi hadn't told his little brother Orochimaru had been kicked out of their group for making "improper advances" (as Itachi had put it) toward his little brother. The "victim" himself was still happily unaware. But Kisame was in the mood to provoke something, and Deidara was sending signals he was making his move tonight too. "Madara-sensei said he had too many papers to grade this weekend, Hidan is against homosexuality this week, and nobody wants Kakuzu around when he's horny like that. But I'm surprised that Itachi never told you what happened with him and Orochi-" Kisame's breath left him forcefully when Itachi's elbow met his gut. He held his stomach, trying to get his breath back and still look manly.

Sasuke could only guess what that meant, but at the very worst if something sexual had happened between them it was limited to a singular event. His brother couldn't regularly met up with someone without his knowledge. Though it was weird how quiet everyone was- maybe because Kisame and Itachi never fought before? However, they clearly knew something he didn't.

With a dark look in his eyes, Itachi filled the tense silence. "If no one can think of something to do, we should just watch a movie." Kisame secretly winked at Deidara, kicking their barely hatched plan into motion. "I could go for a horror movie. Got any?"

Already over the incident, Itachi nodded. "We have a few that aren't horrible." He stood and Kisame went over to the movie case with him, not-so-subtly checking out the raven's rear as he bent over to grab a stack of movies to show them to Kisame. Deidara waited until Kisame had the elder Uchiha distracted enough discussing the best option, then turned to Sasuke. "I just learned about palm reading. Can I try it on you?"

The boy had known Deidara long enough to be used to his random nonsense; at times, this blond man reminded quite a bit of his own best friend Naruto. So he nodded and held out his hand. The artist tried not to seize it too quickly. Gently rubbing and caressing as much as he dared, he made up some shit. Really, this kid was pretty gullible. But his hands were so soft the blond man could just imagine what he'd rather have those hands be doing… oh he was getting aroused, and Sasuke seemed to notice something was off because he muttered an excuse of refilling the snacks to retrieve his hand.

Having finally decided upon a movie, Itachi put it in and sat back down on the couch, glancing about and realizing Deidara had managed to get his brother out of the room while he was distracted. He excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom. He aimed to go through the kitchen, telling himself it was shorter than going down the hallway. Walking slowly with the purpose of eavesdropping, he heard whispers from the kitchen.

"You drive me crazy, you know?"

"Is that right?" Sasuke was trying to distance himself with difficulty.

"I'll never understand why you hang around him. Itachi makes you cry alone, doesn't he?"

Trying to discover when the conversation had slipped this way and what had given them away, he said as nonchalantly as possible, "How can I not hang around with him? He's my brother."

Deidara had him right where he wanted him, pressed against the counter by the sink. Sasuke tried not to think too much about how he'd been in the reverse position before with his brother. "Don't be silly, Sasuke. I see what's going down." He brushed his forehead, enjoying the wince as he purposely touched the bandaged cut. "Using make-up to cover it up… did you tell yourself it'd probably never happen again?" Sasuke's expression gave him away.

Itachi couldn't really hear the exchange, just bits and words, so he entered the room and was horrified to see Deidara planting a kiss right on Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke had his eyes open and didn't seem to be enjoying it but apparently consented because he wasn't pushing the blond man away. He stood there unmoving until he saw Itachi.

The second their eyes met Itachi was certain that this was Sasuke's payback for keeping their relationship a secret. He watched his brother try to escape from the blond man's grasp and he grudgingly released the boy. "So…" he felt Itachi's presence behind him and slowly did an about face. "Oh. Hi, Itachi. We were just getting some more snacks." Deidara pretended to be oblivious to the pressure that overcame his young crush, who couldn't bring himself to look his brother in the eye anymore. "I'll just go ahead out with this. It sounds like they're starting the movie." The blond was aware that he had won, at least for now, and left the kitchen cheerfully with a plate food.

The heavy silence seemed to drown out the loud conversation from the other room. Itachi thought he was exaggerating when he had called his brother a slut before but he hadn't planned on being so right. He glared until Sasuke felt the pressure and worked up the nerve to look him in the eyes. "I… it really wasn't…"

"Don't." Itachi was done with this; his brother was such trouble that maybe their brief relationship should end before it got worse. He turned on his heel to walk out but something tugged his shirt from behind and he stopped, not wanting it to tear. "This better be good."

Sasuke's voice came out in a scared whisper, and Itachi risked a glance over his shoulder. "He kept talking like he knew about us, so I thought if I convinced him I liked him and not you then it would be ok but it got out of hand." Little otouto was looking at where his hand clutched his shoulder, but his eyes were very shiny and that expression Itachi wasn't sure of took over his features. "I'm sorry. Please, just, don't be mad at me." His brother looked… hurt maybe? But there was other stuff there."Please. I'm so sorry." What the look meant didn't matter anymore, because Itachi decided right then that his friends needed to learn not to touch his property.

Otouto still looked like he might cry, which was unacceptable. "Don't be a baby." He dislodged Sasuke's hand from his clothing, and holding his brothers hand gently, he slapped the wrist *_hard*_. Sasuke winced but was even more confused when Itachi then soothingly kissed the top of his hand. "Remember, all you're getting is a slap on the wrist." Watching his brother's face light up at his words almost made him rethink his new plan. Was it too harsh? No. It would be fun for both of them, he was sure, so he dropped the hand and walked into the living room again like nothing had happened.

Sasuke was beyond relieved that telling the truth had worked so nicely and that his brother wasn't punishing him more than that. It was really amazing. Perhaps _too_ amazing? But he had given an awesome blowjob before, so maybe it paid off even though it had been uncomfortable. He grabbed the other food plate and returned to his spot on the couch, careful to be not too close to Deidara but the blond purposely made it difficult. However the artist's predictions were dead wrong about Sasuke's reaction to horror movies, and therefore he was appalled to discover the boy was falling asleep, even having the audacity to yawn during one of the scariest parts. He thought quickly to use this to his advantage, but by the time he worked out how to get Sasuke to sleep on him, the boy was nestled into the sofa's arm and napping soundly.

The movie ended and Nagato, Yahiko and Konan quickly made their excuses to leave so they wouldn't have to clean up any dishes. Sasori had many OCD tendencies, and so was preoccupied with cleaning up every bit of mess they'd made. Kisame had tried several times to make another move during the movie but failed epically each time. Giving up, he went to say something about how he should get going (since Itachi was cranky anyway and they wouldn't be getting anywhere tonight) but Deidara shushed him.

"Look at the little angel," he said sweetly. "Isn't he so beautiful? I just wanna do him."

"That's dangerous to say with me here, Deidara." The blond stiffened. He hadn't imagined Itachi would call him out so directly.

He smirked sweetly. "Don't worry; I'll take good care of your brother. But you might need some earplugs because he looks like a screamer."

"He isn't, but he does have a dirty mouth." Deidara really looked at the raven this time. Sitting like a prince, the man calmly shifted his gaze between his brother and the artist practically looming over the teen. "How about we make a bet?"

"What kind of bet?" Itachi didn't make bets he couldn't win so there was no way he would be tricked into something so dangerous.

"A contest. It's simple. We'll use whatever criterion you prefer, and the winner gets to screw sleeping beauty."

"But… he's your brother!" While the thought had been amusing before, seriously considering this reality was hard to grasp.

Itachi held up one finger against his lips to shush him. "Quiet now. You'll wake him up and that would ruin all the fun." He took a final sip of his drink. "What do you say?"

Without reflecting too much on his previous thoughts of how dangerous betting with Itachi could really be, he gave the condition. "Whoever draws him the best as he is right now. We'll each have only five minutes and our friends will judge."

"Fair enough. I'll gather the materials." An uneasy feeling tried to make itself known to Deidara, tried to tell him that Itachi must have known that would be Deidara's answer and the Uchiha had agreed too easily but these thoughts were overshadowed by the mental image of sinking himself deep into Sasuke's ass. The boy must be so tight and hot, even though Itachi implied that he was no longer a virgin. Maybe this was just a test to see if he was worthy to date his brother or something.

Itachi returned with two sketchpads and pencils and with Kisame timing, they began. Deidara worked furiously, drawing dramatic lines and working as quickly as possible. Itachi moved at a slow pace, never erasing a single mark. Kisame was pretty sure that Itachi hardly looked at the boy sleeping on the couch. Kisame didn't like his fucks young, but if Sasuke ever offered himself he certainly wouldn't say no. The boy had a slender physique, midnight hair that fell around his face like a halo of darkness, and pouty lips that twitched a bit in response to the dishes clanking every so often in the kitchen.

Itachi finished with a minute to spare, and calmly sipped his drink as he watched Deidara frantically try to complete his work. Kisame was rooting for the blond, but he could tell from the raven's posture that he had won. He'd never seen Itachi draw before, but men who lost usually looked more, well, defeated.

"Ha!" The artist quietly announced as he finished with a flourish seconds before the five minutes were over. They called Sasori into the living room, and he, Kisame, and Zetsu viewed the two pictures. To make it less biased, the judges deliberated without knowing which sketch belonged to whom.

Both pictures were gorgeous, even ignoring that their subject was beautiful to begin with. The first had a lot of detail and captured the sleeper's expression of ignorant bliss perfectly. Although it was accurate to the reality still napping on the couch, the second drawing had a _something_ that was difficult to describe though the subject was obviously sexier. There were less lines of detail yet the simplicity somehow made it even better. It was the hands down winner, and when Deidara saw Itachi's drawing he had to concede defeat. "I didn't know you were interested in art at all."

"I'm not." He answered with a smirk, knowing and loving that it would irritate the blond more. "However, otouto had asked me draw some nudes of him, so I have had practice." Scowling, Deidara got up to leave, but Itachi grabbed his arm. "Leaving so soon? As I consolation prize, I was thinking I would allow you to watch me fuck him."

The group was pretty loose but such a statement from their most reserved member was unnerving… and totally hot. Deidara knew it'd be the closest he'd ever get to the real thing. "Sure." Then, hesitantly, "can I at least undress him?"

Itachi seriously considered for a moment. He could further assert his dominance by showing off his brother's hot body and putting hickeys all over him, but on the other hand, the less fuel Deidara's fantasies had the better. "No." Predicting Deidara's next question, he added, "You can't kiss him, touch him, or wake him up, either." He nearly laughed as he moved predatorily to his unsuspecting little brother. "I said the winner would do _sleeping_ beauty. And I've always wondered how long it would take him to wake up if I started while he was sleeping." Leaning over his brother, he placed a butterfly light kiss on his forehead and undid his pants, tugging them down to his knees. He was satisfied to see that his brother was still pretty hard, though it could be the result of whatever he was dreaming. He carefully maneuvered Sasuke onto his stomach, amused by the rustles of clothing he heard as those on the other couch were forced to adjust their pants.

"Deidara, hand me your tie." The man did so, and Itachi gave him his most evil smirk as he tied the cloth around his brother's eyes. He was doing this whether Sasuke wanted this or not, but it would hurt his ego too much if he couldn't make his brother cum so just in case he was a little shy it'd be better if he couldn't immediately see when he awoke.

After he placed a pillow under otouto's hips for elevation, he liberally wet three fingers with saliva and worked them into his brother one at a time. Deidara tentatively approached until he was less than two feet away, but Itachi ignored him since he wasn't trying to touch. The other three men joined Deidara as the sought the best view of the slick fingers plunging inside the sleeping teen's ass. Itachi couldn't stretch his brother too much, or he would surely wake up before he was inside, so he stopped just after he wedged the third finger in even though Sasuke was pushing back against his hand in slight and uneven thrusts. "Lube?" He asked, and sure enough someone- he didn't know or care who, because with the hot ass in front of him he was too hard to wait- handed him a tube with the cap already off.

He smoothly undid his pants and pulled out his erect cock, making sure Kisame saw it. Yeah, he knew that man wanted him and conspired with Deidara against him. Teasing was the proper punishment for men like his friend. Kisame pursued his prey like a shark, but Itachi was too smart and quick. So he lubricated himself and thrust in quickly, pleased with the yelp from his brother. He rested where he was for a moment.

Sasuke was disoriented, to say the least. The last thing he could remember was Deidara watching him more than the movie- which one? Something with a lot of boring gore- so he knew he fell asleep, and this still felt like the couch, and the person inside couldn't be anyone other Itachi. "What the hell, Itachi? I thought you hated doing it on the couch." He grumbled, but nevertheless moaned when his brother delivered the first thrust. "Didn't you come enough before when I sucked you off in the kitchen?" He heard a funny noise, almost like snickering, but they hadn't had sex in two days, so he was horny enough to ignore it.

He moaned again, but winced when Itachi's purple nails dug into the bare skin of his hips. "You're rougher than usual, Itachi. Is this my punishment for letting Deidara kiss me earlier?" This time the snickering noise was louder, and Itachi thrust hard enough to make his brother moan loudly again. "Ah!"

"Not quite, Sasuke." Without missing a stroke, he dramatically pulled off the blindfold so his brother could see his four friends very close, both observing and masturbating to this obscene sight. "_This_... is your punishment." Sasuke was horrified; he almost lost his erection but Itachi hit his magic spot just then so instead of protests only groans dripped from his lips. Itachi was too good at making him utterly melt, because while he was mortified that other people were not only seeing his brother butt-fuck him, he had admitted to giving him a blowjob _and _was acting like a slut, but his body relished the feeling his brother brought about. He buried his face into the couch cushions to block out the masturbating college students mere feet away and after a few short minutes of rough thrusting he came with muffled moans into the couch.

Fortunately Itachi released seconds after he did. He pulled out, smirking at the looks on the watcher's faces. "All right, time to leave." He put his cock back into his pants and ushered his friends to the door, calling over his shoulder to the immobile Sasuke, "make sure you clean up the couch, otouto." Sasuke waited until he heard the front door shut before he stood and disgustedly pulled his pants up. In a few minutes Itachi would return, so Sasuke cleaned the couch as fast as he could with washcloths, an easy enough task because their cum was mostly either on the pillow or inside him. He heard the knob turning on the front door and dashed into the bathroom, immediately locking in and getting into the shower. He felt dirty, and if he didn't get the cum out of his ass it would get up in there and then his stomach would hurt all night.

Itachi was satisfied. It turned out that he didn't need to go to the trouble of telling them all to back off his brother. He had planned to lecture them vigorously on all the ways that Sasuke belonged to him and only him, but Kisame and Deidara couldn't quite look him in the eye. Deidara had even mumbled something that sounded like 'sorry.' Sasori and Zetsu weren't that interested to begin with though Zetsu bothered to drop the comment, "one day he'll tell you that he's had enough." Whatever.

The couch was clean when he returned inside, as well as the living room table and the kitchen (thanks to Sasori and his OCD tendencies) but otouto was nowhere to be found and he was in the mood to cuddle. It didn't happen often, but he wanted to hug his brother and hold him tight while they fell asleep. He turned off the lights in the living room and the kitchen, going to Sasuke's bedroom and changing into his sleeping clothes. He got comfy in his brother's bed; his bed was bigger and better for sex, but Sasuke's bed was just the right size for being close in an intimate, non-sexual way.

It felt like a forever later when Sasuke walked into his room and saw his brother there. Itachi turned to face him with a smile, but it disappeared when he saw the look on Sasuke's face. "What's the matter, otouto? And what's on your forehead?" He frowned, not sure if the mark had been there earlier this evening.

Sasuke turned away to his dresser, choosing his words carefully while putting on his pjs. "Why did you do that?"

"I'll tell you after you tell me how you got cut."

"Remember when you pushed me into the hallway?"

"Yeah…?" What was his point? Had the runt tried to be emo in the weirdest way possible?

"I fell into the picture frame on the wall- the glass one with mom and dad in it." If Itachi didn't at least _act_ sorry the man could sleep all on his own tonight.

"I apologize." Damn. Maybe he should be more gentle.

Because Itachi admitted his guilt and the last time that happened was… well, never, he considered that maybe he was overreacting. "This doesn't hurt." He muttered. "What made you decide to screw me in front of a crowd of people? That certainly wasn't a 'slap on the wrist', asshole."

"Well," Itachi could tell his brother was looking for a particular reason, and since he wasn't sure which one, he gave all the reasons he had. "It was more fun showing my friends than telling them about us. That's what you wanted, isn't it, Sasuke? And I thought the exhibitionism would be pretty hot, and you kissed Deidara so there was that punishment to deal out." He thought for a moment as Sasuke climbed into bed and allowed Itachi to slip his arm securely around his little brothers waist and the other hand played with his soft spiky hair, and finally decided it was better to be open about all his reasons. "Also, Deidara and I bet that whoever could draw you better could fuck our 'sleeping beauty.' You should really see them, the drawings are-"

"Nii-san." Itachi felt his brother stiffen, and realized he had never heard Sasuke sound so cold. "You bet on who could do me?"

"It's not like I could lose, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned that over in his mind a couple times, and knew at this point something had to give. He sat up and looked his brother dead in the eyes. Itachi was getting annoyed, but here was this expression on Sasuke's face that was love, but also pain, disgust and betrayal. Unsure of how to deal with this Sasuke, he remained silent as his brother began to give a voice to the thoughts that had been sealed tight, tight, tight in a jar. "Itachi. I wanted your friends to know, but not like that! I hate doing things like that in front of other people. Does it make you feel like a man pushing me around? Does it make you feel like dad?"

Itachi wanted to interject with an "I swear I love you" but Sasuke was having none of it.

"I kissed somebody I don't like to protect _you_; it was gross, by the way, and not just because his breath tasted like sour cream and onion dip. I hate when you come in my ass because when it goes in deep and I can't get it out right away I get really bad stomachaches. Have you ever thought about it? You're squirting foreign fluids into my intestines." Biology wasn't his favorite subject but he knew at least that much. "I don't like sucking you off because you're too rough, it makes my throat feel raw, you pull my hair too much and the taste of cum grosses me out," he was nearly out of breath, but it felt good to let this all out.

"I love you so much it drives me crazy but you rarely do anything for me in return. I walk on glass around you, trying not to piss you off, because I don't know what new and creative way you've come up with to make me feel like shit, to put me face down in the dirt."

Itachi had never heard his brother get like this. Well, with him, anyway. He had thought he was immune. "But-"

"Yeah, I know. You don't do it on purpose." He rolled his eyes despite this being the most serious conversation they'd had since their parents died ten years ago. "But since you didn't notice any of this, not a little bit, then there's only one option left."

Itachi was sitting up too, and somewhere during Sasuke's ranting they'd moved as far apart as the bed would allow. Itachi had no idea his brother was feeling this way… though now that he thought about it, he was too rough and didn't show affection nearly as much as he should, and Sasuke had been hesitant towards him lately. His nescience of Sasuke's point of view was appalling… but… "so what are you saying, exactly?"

Sasuke climbed out of the bed, grabbing a blanket and pillow from the closet. "I've tried to convince myself over and over and over that this relationship doesn't hurt." He took a deep breath, then faced his brother with the resolve to go through with this. "I've had finally had enough, Itachi. I'm breaking up with you."

Then, as casual as anything, Sasuke added on his way out the door, "I'll sleep on the couch tonight. Try not to wake me when you leave tomorrow, aniki." And, for possibly the first time in his life, Itachi was sure his heart was breaking.

Any and all comments welcome. Thank you for reading!


	2. Better Than Me

The last and final chapter is coming together and will be completed and ready for posting within the next two weeksish. This chapter is sort of based on the song Better than Me by Hinder (which I don't own or make money off of), but it's not so obvious as the first chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

I do not own there characters or make any money from this. I would love to, but I don't.

Itachi had managed maybe hour of sleep and it wasn't enough, but he felt supremely miserable lying in the now-too-big-bed by himself so it wasn't a priority. He watched the sun move its rays gradually down the wall, getting closer and closer to his face. Other than a few noises Sasuke made settling on the couch last night their apartment remained silent as a 1910 movie.

His mind was carefully numb as he left the apartment for his sunrise exercise at the gym, just able to own up to himself that the reason he skipped breakfast (as unhealthy as he knew it to be) was to avoid his brother, who would have surely woken from the noise.

Stress and anger were nice to burn off with a run, and he jumped on the treadmill without even a warm-up. He waited until his pace was nice and quick and his music was nearly deafening before allowing his brain to analyze _that_ conversation.

What was that brat thinking? Itachi was supposed to boss Sasuke around— he was asserting his right as the older brother! And so what if he was a little rough sometimes? Their dad wasn't abusive per se, but Itachi never reached *his* level, even when Sasuke did make him angry! Younger brothers are always weak and whiny. What sort of lover was he if he refused to swallow after a blow job? And what nonsense was this with stomach cramps, he sounded like some menstruating girl! It was Itachi's choice as the older brother, initiator of their relationship, and the seme to decide when and how their friends found out. He should also know better than to kiss anybody else. Protecting his older brother? What a stupid excuse to kiss that stupid blonde man. He probably wanted to be punished anyway! And Sasuke knew he loved him, he told his little brother that all the time!

…didn't he? … now that he seriously thought about it, the last time he'd actually said 'I love you' was in that clothing store when they hid the dressing rooms to fix a… 'problem'… or two. He simply wasn't very vocal and Sasuke's known that for years before they became lovers. Sasuke just said it more than he did, that's all. Like in the morning when they parted ways to go to school… or got back from school… or something made him feel lonely… or when he could tell Itachi was stressing out about school even though he never said anything, or while they were moving slowly but going deep and Sasuke would toss his head to the side as he panted and looked at him with blazing eyes and *_moaned*_ "I love you, Itachi" and then they would move even slower to make the moment last….

Hmm….

…alright so screwing in front of a bunch of college guys was embarrassing for a kid still in high school, especially one who was already uncomfortable with PDA. Itachi didn't exactly give otouto much warning beforehand, either, so maybe that wasn't his best idea.

…if he hadn't picked a fight with Deidara after the movie, they could have kept the sexual side of their brotherhood a secret, and maybe just told his friends they were dedicated to each other because they have few other relatives? It was halfway plausible. And really, Deidara is easily distracted and probably would have backed off with a mere brotherly threat.

…he was pretty sure he remembered that when they decided to be lovers they promised to be equals foremost but maintain their brotherly bond as much as possible. So yeah, maybe he should've consulted his lover before opening up to his friends in that fashion.

…and when he thought about it, he remembered reading somewhere that semen can get far up into the intestines so Sasuke's stomach pain could actually be legitimate.

…since he'd never given a blowjob, maybe he shouldn't assert anything about swallowing; for all he knew cum could taste like pickle juice and seawater mixed with crusty jello.

…and while Itachi wasn't quite sure he understood the precise reason otouto was bothered by the bet (because there wasn't any risk so really Itachi managed to get them a free drawing despite Deidara's insistence on being paid for every notebook doodle and origami-crane made from a napkin) but it wouldn't hurt to ask about it. An apology might also be within the realm of his benevolence.

…so yes, they both loved their dad but he was prone to semi-abusive fits and he hated being compared to his father, especially in that way. He could admit that he was rougher than he needed to be sometimes.

"I *am* an asshole." He repeated Sasuke's insult, understanding the meaning more completely.

"I've always thought you looked more like a bastard. But I guess you would know better than me."

Itachi knew his headphones couldn't go any louder, but it was further proof that Naruto was one-of-a-kind that his voice cut through the heavy music. And since Itachi ran into otouto's friend regularly at the gym, he knew pretending he hadn't heard him wasn't a possibility. He tugged his earphones until they were around his neck but didn't slow down. "What do you want?"

The blonde grinned cheekily. "You look tired. You two stay up all night doing it again?"

He tripped over an invisible bump on the treadmill. "Excuse me?"

The blonde gave him a funny look. "Isn't 'be thou graceful' an Uchiha commandment or something? You two should take it easy—everyone knows he gets worn out really quick. Sometimes he doesn't even finish his laps in gym class. " He upped his pace to match Itachi's because he simply couldn't resist the competition. "Though maybe that's the side-effect of your nocturnal activities. I bet you guys do it until he passes out." He mused. "Anyway, I figured Sasuke would've told you that he told me."

Naruto's gym buddy wasn't playing along with the blonde's childishness today, though. He went right back to his own thoughts, a fact that Naruto ignored since he wasn't told outright to shut up. "I figured it out before that, though. Like *ages* ago. You guys are like ridiculously in love, you know? That's why I stopped hanging out at your house when you're home together. You guys can't focus on anything but each other which is funny cause you're usually scolding me and him to focus on our homework even though you're not focusing on your own because you're watching him and I know everyone says I have ADHD but I don't cause g-pops took me to the doctor last week and that doctor was weird. I don't think he paid attention to anything I said. At the end, though, he just gave me a funny look and told good old grampsy to stop giving me so much sugar. I woke up before him today so I snuck into the kitchen and got the Lucky Charms, but then g-pop caught me and we ended up playing tag and I got to run around the house screaming 'They're after me Lucky Charms!' so it was pretty fun."

For the briefest second he paused, not to catch his breath but to try to figure out where the conversation had been going before that. Oh yeah! "I'm not the only one who knows but I am the only one to figure it out (Neji says he knew, but we all know his pride makes him tell lies). But the other people that know would never betray him (or me because they know messing with 'im the same thing as attacking me) but they're good guys and we hardly fight and when we do we don't use blackmail or anything so no worries!

You're all he talks about, and even when some of the stuff he says you guys do sounds like he's not into it he's always got this look of absolute devotion on his face. You're really lucky. Oh! But I'm not into guys so don't worry; I'm not the competition or anything. There's a pretty sweet girl in algebra, and she used to be a bitch in middle school but lately she's been super nice to me and I think I may have a shot. If not, there's a friend I've liked for a while who I bet wouldn't mind going out with me. I'd ask my real crush first, but I'm kinda worried about ruining the friendship."

Naruto allowed a few minutes of silence, but that was more for his benefit than Itachi's (who had unthinkingly fallen into their customary competitive pattern). His dark companion, on the other hand, was focused on how he felt like an even bigger asshole than before. No- he was lower than that, and now he knew it. He already knew how to pick up on the important threads of Naruto's ramblings without having to listen to all of it; this kid was more or less an idiot, but hearing how much his brother loved him—coming from his best friend—it made his chest tighten further.

They'd never really fought before— he understood now it was his own fault. He generally ignored his brother when he was acting hesitant or trying to argue. In hindsight, otouto was trying to communicate to him what he was feeling, how they could improve, and the things he said last night…

He rubbed his chest. The stabbing sensation had begun when Sasuke… when he… with those five words, his world ended but Itachi had to work through the anger from being hurt to realize that.

Why should he bother with anything, without his brother to stand beside him? This wouldn't stop them from being brothers of course. But he didn't know if he could settle for anything less than all of Sasuke. Little brother was the reason he stayed strong during their parents' funeral, and the reason he was able to fend off all relatives vying for custody (and consequently the inheritance money), and the reason he went to class and worked so hard. It was so his brother could have everything and anything he wanted or needed.

Some genius he was. How could he read his brother so terribly wrong? How had he overlooked the worst mistakes of his life? How could he vindicate this? How low would he have to go to make the situation right again? What could he do to fix this?

What if he *couldn't* fix this?

"Your brother's been on edge lately. Are you sure you're taking care of him? He looks paler than usual and waaay more tense. Insecure, you know? If I didn't know better, I'd say he's afraid of you or somethi—"

"Shut up!" Itachi snapped. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to be told things he should have known. He didn't want some outsider describing his brother to him. Why was he the only one who missed the change in Sasuke? He didn't need any more reminders of what a lousy brother, boyfriend, and lover he was.

"I won!" The blonde obnoxiously yelled, defiantly ignoring Itachi's order and waving his fist in the air, drawing the attention of the few other early risers at the gym. The boy didn't care, though, because he finally beat Itachi at their mile/minute challenge. He slowed the treadmill then hopped off. "This isn't a real win because you're tired and missed breakfast today, but I'll be sure to beat you for real next time." Itachi raised his eyebrow at the supposed-idiot's assessment, then gave up and got off the treadmill to pack up and leave. This was a crappy day anyway.

The blonde beamed when he saw that it bugged Uchiha that he could read him. "You talk to me even less when you don't eat in the morning and you've been blinking more than usual so you're clearly tired." He chugged a water bottle in record time and went to go into the weight room, but apparently forgot something because he turned back around and got very close to Itachi.

He hated people in his bubble, but then the blonde started saying things he'd rather not have everyone hear. "Maybe some gentle sex would be good. He'd probably love to be on top more often. You could even give him a blowjob; I bet he'd love that." He winked and continued on his way, whistling off key.

The Uchiha fought a blush as he finally located the water bottle in his bag. Why and how was that kid so damn perceptive? That wasn't really the point here, though. He'd at least given him an idea for how to get back on Sasuke's good side.

The apartment was so quiet Sasuke's ears hurt. His head hurt, but that was the lump in the couch's fault. His back hurt, but that was the couch's fault. His heart hurt, too, but unfortunately he had done that all on his own. It had to happen, but he missed Itachi already. Seeing his older brother in his room last night almost made him to drop his list of grievances, cause it was rare for Itachi to want mere sleep next to each other.

And his brother hadn't followed after him! The last Sasuke had seen of him was when he left last night to sleep on the couch, and aniki had hardly reacted to that. If a blank expression was the most he was going get, than that was the affirmation that Sasuke needed to know separation was the right choice. A jerk like that isn't healthy to be around. Well, they'd still be around each other because they lived in the same house, but at least now they weren't dating. That kind of love—well, sex anyway—was apparently too complicated for them.

He kept telling himself this as he wiped his face again, annoyed that each time his hands brushed his eyes more tears gathered there. Dammit! He failed again, then gave up. He curled deeper into the couch and let himself cry into the cushion. It didn't matter if this made him weak because he already felt broken; he was losing not just a lover, but a brother, too. Sort of? Well not really yet he knew there was little hope things would be like it'd been when they were young.

Hah! He thought their relationship was fucked up before; they had brother, boyfriend, lover, and now 'ex' issues. His phone buzzed on the table and he opened it to read the text. It was from Naruto, who he knew spent mornings at the gym. Naturally, Naruto's brief run-in with his brother had tipped him off and he was asking what happened last night. He ignored it, but figured he should do something other than sit and sulk.

His stomach suggested breakfast, so he went into the kitchen and heated a few instant pancakes. It was when he went to get himself syrup that the universe attacked. The lid wouldn't open, and he was already pissed off at himself for being upset with the break-up and he didn't feel a container of syrup was worthy of defeating him. He tried everything he could, from running the lid under hot water to using a rubber grip and it refused to loosen.

Although he knew he was being silly, he raised him arm to throw the plastic container into the sink in a mini-bitch fit just when the lid yielded. Sasuke still lost the battle because now he was covered in syrup. "FUCK THIS!" He yelled angrily. In his haste to leave the kitchen, he completely missed his older brother watching him from the living room.

He stomped into the bathroom for his second shower in the past twelve hours. He left his pjs outside of the hamper so he could wash them right away and turned the water until it was too hot. It was a pleasant burn on his skin; the same kind of sensation that danced between pleasure and pain that Itachi gave him when they did *_this*_ and *_that*_…

It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since they'd last done it (and in front of other people, too!), and already he was fantasizing. The water needed some help removing the sticky substance from his skin and hair, so he grabbed the nearest wash bottle to cleanse himself. He scowled at it when he saw it was Itachi's scent and reached for another. That one was also very much nii-san's scent, so he tried again. And then another, until he realized that all the shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body wash they owned had been picked out by his older brother and smelled intrinsically like him. They were nice enough smells but he wasn't in the mood to smell like nii-san. He lacked options though and eventually went with the least used brand.

"I think one more try should do it." He mumbled to himself after the second round of shampoo left his hair. Showers were his place to relax, and he let his mind stay sweetly numb so it wouldn't remind him of the ache in chest. Slowly, bigger hands joined his on his scalp, massaging it. Itachi said quietly to him, "Let me help you with that," and those words ruined the serene spell.

He was angry and no matter how much he liked when was Itachi was being gentle this was unacceptable. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to help you." He replied as soothingly as he could.

"No, I mean what the hell are you doing sneaking in here while I'm taking a shower?" He faced his brother, anger helping him resist the temptation to appreciate the naked, wet lover gently touching his shoulders. He physically shook his head back and forth to clear the effects of Itachi's intense gaze. "I broke up with you! Or do they use different words in college? How about this: I dumped you, we're finished, let's see other people, I'm calling it off—"

"I'm just trying to help you." He repeated. The calm tone wouldn't have been convincing if Sasuke hadn't noticed at that moment that Itachi wasn't hard. He thought it over for a second; either his brother lost all sexual desire for him overnight, nii-san had just had sex, or his brother genuinely wanted to wash his hair. His eyes showed the passion he was used to seeing, so Sasuke knew his brother wanted him and hadn't gone to someone else, but then the only option was…

"Well," he hesitated a moment more, then turned around again. "Go ahead." The younger Uchiha felt like he was letting the devil in the doorway, but Itachi kept his promise and focused on getting all the syrup out. Aniki massaged his head on very rare occasions; the last time he had been horribly sick and could hardly wash himself. He lost himself in the pleasant moment and allowed nii-san to apply conditioner. After that was washed out he moved to turn off the water, feeling a little less angry at his brother, but Itachi stopped him with a hand on his wrist and his guard was up again.

But all he said was "please" and the hand on his wrist was light and he, against his better judgment, gave in. Itachi poured a handful of body wash into his palms and tenderly kneaded his back to work out the tension. Aniki raised the water temperature when he showed the slightest sign of being cold in a surprisingly attentive gesture.

"Please." He said again, and Sasuke nearly jumped again when he saw over his shoulder his brother go down on his knees. Sasuke lost his breath as an impossibility crossed his mind. Itachi was unsure how to do it exactly, but he pulled Sasuke by the hips to turn and face him, not flinching when the angle sprayed shower water on face. All of his attention was on his younger brother's cock.

Sasuke had grown hard midway through the back massage, but just seeing aniki on his knees staring so closely at his dick would have made him fully erect. "Itachi…" he trailed off, not sure what to say. As if in slow motion, his brother stuck out his tongue and licked the head, gathering the pearl of precum into his mouth. He gasped as Itachi did it again. "Oh… shit." His brother took it a step further and grasped the base while he put the head in his mouth and sucked lightly. "Ah… Itachi … why?" His brother didn't answer; he just took another inch into his mouth.

Not ten minutes ago he was convinced their relationship as lovers was over.

Over? Fuck that! If his words had an impact last night and aniki was going to treat him like this from now on they could stay together forever. He moaned loudly in appreciation of the way Itachi gently moved his tongue all over the head and caressed his balls. He didn't dare touch Itachi's hair even though the spray of the shower head was messing it up; but the elder Uchiha noticed his fists clenched in restraint and pulled off of the cock in front of him for a moment.

"Sasuke," he held a hand in each of his, "go ahead and pull my hair, it's alright." Sasuke hesitated still, but once Itachi had threaded his hands into the long raven hair and resumed stroking the hard cock with his tongue, Sasuke couldn't help tugging on it.

Itachi wasn't particularly awesome at this since he'd never given head before but Sasuke didn't know any better because he'd never received head before. Nevertheless it was enough to know that Itachi was doing what he considered degrading just to please Sasuke.

'I've been at least that mean to you,' Itachi thought. 'How many times did I yank and jerk at your hair despite your protests?' he continued mentally berating himself. He bobbed his head a bit because Sasuke always did that and it usually felt nice. However, there was something else Sasuke did often that he knew must be done.

Gradually he stopped bobbing his mouth over Sasuke's cock and went down on it as far as he could. Sasuke's moan and half-shout "fuck!" made it totally worth it. He still had an inch or so to go but his gag reflex was kicking in so he backed off. He couldn't remember exactly how long it took Sasuke to learn how to deep throat properly, but now he could appreciate the short time Sasuke mastered it in. He stroked it with his hand and looked up at Sasu—at his brother. He had to get over his aversion to reminders of their familial relationships during sex. He knew that Sasuke didn't have a problem with it so there should be no reason for him to have trouble with it.

His brother's eyes were mostly shut, his head tilted down to watch Itachi work; he looked dead sexy dripping wet and aroused and gazing at him with love and admiration. His determination returned and he shoved it back into his mouth, grunting as it slid into his throat. The grunt caused the slightest vibration but in Sasuke's state it was enough. "I'm coming, 'tachi!" he whispered.

He drew back at these words, just enough to slide his cock from his throat to his mouth, but the cum started spurting out of the tip just then in thick rivulets. It didn't taste very nice, a weird salty-sweet mix that was indescribable; he liked how it was very warm. He couldn't really decide if he liked it or not, but it was too late because in his hesitation to swallow he ended up choking on the cum residing in his mouth and sliding down his throat.

Sasuke fell to his knees. Through his heavy panting he asked, "Are you… alright?" Itachi coughed some more and nodded. He put his hand on his brother's shoulder and waited for aniki to get his breath back. The instant Itachi was breathing normally again he seized his younger brother in a tight embrace.

Sasuke's face was in the spray and it was uncomfortable but when he realized the hot drips of water on his shoulder were not the shower water but Itachi's tears he simply couldn't pull away. He wrapped his arms around nii-san's torso as tightly as he could.

Itachi knew his shuddering breaths were giving him away but he couldn't stop himself. "Otouto, you… I'm… I love you. I don't have any right to ask you to forgive me. I've been an asshole and a scumbag and all sorts of terrible to you, and 'I'm sorry' isn't enough to make up for the things I've done to someone I care for as much as I do for you. I'm not asking for a second chance, because I don't deserve it…

I'm begging for one.

"I won't make a bunch of cliché promises, either, but you know once I've decided something it's guaranteed." He sniffed and his voice regained the strong assertive tone that made people hang on his every word. "I love you, and I need you to know that I will listen to you when you tell me something and I'll put you first in *everything* and I want to take care of you like a real lover should.

"so… don't answer now, but if there's even the slightest chance we could try again—no, even if you say hate me and—" he choked momentarily—"want to move to Uncle Madara's I would…" he would fall apart, honestly, but saying that would influence Sasuke's decision. "I would keep loving you. I should probably thank you, because if you hadn't said anything I would never have known that I could love anyone this much and it made my chest hurt when you said— but I don't want you to feel guilty or anything, so forget that part but remember that you are *most* important to me—if I were to lose the world and gain your love, I would be able to survive.

"So… um… if you could consider that, you know, that I evaluated my view on this and related things and intend to vindicate what I can and arrange for other things to be better and ensure I do not act like that man and in the way that he acted in the past regarding his anger and the way he treated us sometimes and I want to be better and make all things equal and particularly from your view more equal and so do nearly everything in a very different and more than likely opposite way than it previously has been done—"

"I'll think about it." Sasuke wanted to laugh, cry, and fuck all at once. Itachi actually said 'um!' And then he rambled!

He was sorry and wanted to change. Well, he probably already had, because formerly Itachi got mad when he asked for a return-the-favor BJ and here he'd gotten his first without asking and clearly Itachi wasn't about to command him to repay. Though now he totally wanted to do it, because it was hot and he was in the mood for it now.

And Itachi said 'I love you' more times just now than he had this past year! Call him romantic, but those words alone were giving his erection a second wind. If the issues brought up last night were addressed, then there was no reason for them not to get back together. All couples had their rough patches, and since they loved each other with unrivaled passion—how could any other lovers compare? He and Itachi were bonded through blood, love and soul.

He wanted to say 'yes' right this second but even nii-san admitted how brutal he'd been and Sasuke felt only the slightest remorse at dragging out his decision as punishment. Fortunately for aniki, forgiveness had been granted truly at Itachi's first tear.

"Thank you." He wiped at his eyes and put their foreheads together, running his hands over his brother like he was reassuring himself that he really wasn't pushing him away and conveying how gentle he would be from then on. His older brother still looked pretty dejected, so he caved in and gave him a peck on the lips. That brought a smile. Sasuke stood up to rinse off and aniki did too.

"Are you hungry? I'll make whatever you want." He put a fluffy towel around his younger brother's shoulders before grabbing his own and wrapping it around his waist.

"Yeah, alright. I tried to get breakfast before but the syrup bottle attacked me." He glanced guiltily at Itachi as he stepped into the hallway. "I... kind of left a mess in the kitchen."

"Don't worry about it. I cleaned it up already." Now he was extra glad he'd done so because it erased the guilty look on little Sasuke's face. He smiled and nudged his younger brother into his room. "Go ahead and get dressed. I'll see what's in the kitchen."

He entered the kitchen much more happily then he had left it earlier. Sasuke was right! Blowjobs definitely put a strain on your voice when you went too deep. And he would never again insist that his brother swallow. If they got back together, that is. He rummaged through the cabinets; finding nothing otouto liked, he went to the fridge.

He went to open the door when the sudden image of last night— his brother, on the floor by the fridge, looking pitifully up at him— flashed before his eyes. Wow. He grabbed some eggs, milk and cheese and shut the fridge again. He had more to apologize for than he could remember. And he needed to check the scratch on his brother's forehead and apply some cream. That adorable face should not be scarred because of him.

The eggs were almost ready and Itachi had set the table, really starting to believe that his brother was going to forgive him and they could try again. And as soon as Sasuke said 'yes,' Itachi was going to grab him and do all sorts of ridiculously romantic and dirty things to him. They had some whip cream left over—

The phone rang.

Phones are supposed to do that, but the sound interrupted such happy thoughts. It annoyed him. He picked the receiver up off the wall and grouchily answered, "Yes?"

"You sick fuck!" The voice on the other end was enraged and shrill, though it still sounded like a boy.

"Excuse me? Who is this?" Itachi wasn't sure if he was more astonished or angered.

"You heard me! What sort of shit are pulling, Uchiha!" The voice was deeper now; less piercing but no less strained. "I heard about you and your precious little brother!"

"I don't know what you mean." His voice was neutral, in a calm tone that only a great actor like him could pull off. Inside, though, he was shaking. What had he been thinking last night?

"I never laid a hand on your brother and you beat the shit out of me, meanwhile you're fucking his little brains out! And in front of everyone!"

The pieces clicked together. "Orochimaru. What do you want?" He tried to sound annoyed and not panicked, but the more he thought about it the more he realized what danger he'd put Sasuke in. Reactions like this were why he resisted telling his friends the full nature of their bond in the first place.

"You're such a hypocrite! A horny, perverted, hypocritical, pedophile! You're no better than I am! What sort of lies did you tell him to get into his pants? How can you call yourself his brother?"

Orochimaru would've gone on, but Itachi cut him off and repeated his question. "What do you want? You surely aren't calling me to lecture me. You can't call me a pedophile when you want him and we're the same age and I have never li—" he wanted to say he never lied to his brother, but that wasn't exactly true, though he hadn't been lying the first night they'd gotten together.

"I want you to stop being a hypocrite and break off your sick, incestual fuckfest with the poor kid. Maybe after I get over what utter bullshit you are, Uchiha, I'll be able to tell you what you can do to make it up to me. Just pray that until then, I don't tell your uncle."

"You're not really that childish, are you?" He retorted, but Orochimaru hung up then so Itachi wasn't sure if he'd heard the jibe. If Uncle Madara found out, at the very least Sasuke would be taken from him. He wouldn't be able to take it; life without otouto was empty and meaningless. And judging from how Sasuke handled their parents' death, otouto would be even worse off. He returned the phone to the receiver and remembered the eggs on the stove just in time to save them.

The words replayed in his head over and over. Technically, he could be considered a pedophile because Sasuke wasn't eighteen yet, though in reality he was a Sasuke-phile. He'd never liked Orochimaru because the man was so creepy. He didn't act like a college-aged kid and was just… ughhh. That had hit the hardest: for Orochimaru to say they were on the same level was ridiculous. More absurd then a neon penguin doing the hula while listening to Eminem. Ludicrous, like men getting pregnant in those stories girls write online.

Wasn't it?

He had never been so insecure in his whole life as much as he had been in the last twelve hours. It must be a full moon, because all these weird and unexpected things are happening all at once.

"Itachi?" He jumped at the sound of his name. There was his beloved in the doorway; how he could have treated otouto like anything less than his most treasured person, he couldn't comprehend. "Itachi?" He said again— otouto's voice was one of his favorite sounds, especially when he said dirty things and made noises when they…. but that brought his thoughts back to what Orochimaru had said. Was he truly no better than him? Because he had always thought that Sasuke could do so much better than that creepy man, but if they were that similar…

"Is the food ready yet?"

Sasuke looked a little worried, so he nodded. "Have a seat, otouto." He brought the food over and he tried to act normal; even so, Sasuke knew something was up, though he figured it was because Itachi was still beating himself up. It was time, he figured, to be officially back together. Then he remembered something. "Oh yeah, who called before? I thought I heard the phone ring."

Itachi felt uncomfortable with this, cause Sasuke had been so unaware of Orochimaru's intentions and he didn't want to make Sasuke feel threatened because there was no threat now that Orochimaru was banned from their house. He decided that the truth was better especially after the insinuation that he lied to his brother to get him to love him. "That… was Orochimaru."

Sasuke twisted his face in disgust. "No offense, Itachi, but of all your friends he's the creepiest. I'm kind of glad he wasn't there last night." He blushed and mumbled, looking down at his plate, "especially that last part."

Another twinge of guilt struck him. He was absolutely horrible to his brother. He didn't deserve a good person—_child_—like Sasuke. As Sasuke obliviously ate his lunch every tiny thing Itachi had done to hurt his brother or make him uncomfortable jumped to the forefront of his mind and the memory of each was like a stab in the gut. He suddenly wasn't very hungry anymore and put his fork down.

Sasuke did notice now but he assumed it was because he hadn't given his answer yet. "I was thinking… I mean, I've thought about it and I think we should—"

"Stay apart." Itachi amazed himself sometimes. If he had known he was going to sound that calm, he would have used more than two words.

"You— wait, what?" He asked Itachi, totally bewildered.

"I haven't acted as I should, and I don't know if I can change so easily. I bet on you, after all, and if I was willing to take that risk I clearly am not as dedicated to what we have as I should be. I love you," he added, because Sasuke's eyes were suddenly very shiny. "Just… maybe I can't handle the duality of this relationship."

'_What?_' was Sasuke's main thought. This wasn't at all what he'd anticipated. What about that speech in the shower? Was that all lies, too? At least last night he had his anger to buffer the hurt. Plus, he had been the one calling it off and he had good reasons. What was this bullshit? After two years Itachi just suddenly couldn't handle screwing his brother?

But such a declaration shouldn't be so unexpected, and he knew it. One of Itachi's rules was never to call each other 'brother' when they were doing it. In the shower… Aside from sucking him off, which might have been his brother's twisted form of apologizing, Itachi probably meant everything to be brotherly.

The more he thought about it, he had probably had simply daydreamed about aniki sucking him off, as well as the other mushy, romantic things he thought Itachi said. Aniki was not romantic like that.

"Yeah." Sasuke mentally chastised himself at how shaky that first word was. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." That was much stronger, and the total lack of emotion on Itachi's face proved to him that this was the right decision. Mentally he smacked himself for allowing his resolve from last night to escape him so easily.

"I have a paper to write for English, a couple of chapters in history to read and I have a grammatical test on Monday. So I'm going to go study in my room now. Thank you for lunch." Maybe he should give his acting ability more credit, because he looked Itachi in the eyes, spoke evenly, got his plate in the dishwasher and walked out of the room more gracefully than he knew he could; he strolled down the hallway and shut his door normally.

The second he clicked the lock on the door, he crumpled. Why had things happened this way? Was he too greedy? Too picky? Maybe things hadn't been as bad as he thought they were, and this was his punishment for being a drama queen.

He looked around his empty room and noticed his bed that Itachi had slept in was still unmade. He crawled into it and curled up with his face in the pillow, sniffing it. The evanescing scent of his brother surrounded the whole area; the only thing missing was the warmth of a body behind him and an arm wrapped around his torso while the other played with his hair. Well, this was depressing. He initiated the break up to get peace, and somehow tranquility was now the furthest thing from his mind.

A lesson learned too late: a selfish lover was better than no lover at all.

Dawn crept in through the open blinds and poked at closed lids. The sun's rays grew stronger and Sasuke childishly fought waking even harder, rolling over to thwart the sun's well-meant efforts. He was almost fully back into the wonderful dream about his brother and the last time they'd gone to the movies. Naturally his alarm started beeping at that moment. He ignored it for thirty seconds before he couldn't take it anymore and threw it as hard as he could against the wall. It beeped once more and hit the ground with a loud thump. The noise stopped but he knew it wasn't broken. Itachi had bought for him an indestructible rubber alarm clock when Itachi started college because Sasuke left earlier in the morning and Itachi didn't want to have to make sure his brother was awake. Itachi…

What was he thinking? Was it really that easy to let go? They'd known and loved each other their entire lives, so even if Itachi didn't love him _that_ way anymore it was hard to believe it would be so sudden. It was just…

His phone buzzed in his blankets, and he remembered that he'd fallen asleep texting Naruto about the test today. In between the review questions they shot at each other he had (rather skillfully) dodged questions about what Sasuke now referred to as 'the event' and not even Naruto's persistence could make him give in, though the blond spent Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday trying to figure it out.

When he opened his phone the message had actually been sent from Sakura, who was inexplicably superstitious about chain letters. "Send to twenty people in the next five minutes or Samara will get you!" He smirked. If Samara killed him, he'd have a great excuse not to go to school today. He felt miserable and being in a place where the teachers were miserable and the students all hated each other and the building looked like a prison would serve the sole purpose of making him more miserable. Before he knew it he'd drifted off again.

Five minutes before the bus arrived Itachi burst into his room unexpectedly. "You'll be late, otouto! Aren't you awake yet?" He saw the clock on the floor and rolled his eyes. "Seems you figured out the angle to throw it so it turns off instead of just snoozing."

He faced away from his brother resentfully. "What are you doing up so early? Your class doesn't start for another two hours." Yeah he was grumpy and being a bit childish but it was too early and he was too miserable to care.

"But I'm a full time brother," and that sounded ridiculous (especially considering certain activities they'd participated in a few days before) and Sasuke couldn't help a snort escaping. "So I have to make sure you get to school. You're not sick, are you?"

Maybe it really was that easy to return to brotherness, because the once-familiar concern in nii-san's voice made him roll over and show his brother Sakura's text. "I'm worse than sick. Samara killed me twenty minutes ago." He said seriously.

"Hm." Itachi looked a little persuaded by his reasoning, since it was rare to have such a legitimate excuse. "Ordinarily a Samara attack would constitute a day off. I think we'll have to find some way to revive you though," he smiled when otouto scowled, "because you already told me you have a test today." Sasuke climbed out of bed reluctantly and dragged his feet to the closet to change into his school uniform.

Itachi walked back into his own room to finish getting ready. "Plus our cleaner is coming today and she always complains we get in her way." Where had he put his secondary textbook? There was a quiz today on the material in chapter seven and the main text for the class didn't mention the subject at all so he _had_ to find that book.

"She speaks mostly French. How do you know what she says?" A book came sliding through his doorway as Sasuke walked by. "You left that on the bathroom counter." Right! He'd been reviewing as he dried his hair earlier.

"Thanks!" He said loudly so Sasuke could hear him over the running water as he washed his teeth and face. He shoved it into his book bag and poked his head into the bathroom. "I'm a genius. Things like language barriers don't apply to people like me." Sasuke punched his arm and made a noise of annoyance around his toothbrush. "Mom taught me what she learned in college. I understand enough to know she thinks you're better looking but way too messy."

Itachi went down the hall and checked the time on the stove. "I'll drive you to school because you already missed the bus. If you can finish getting ready in the next two minutes we'll have time to stop for breakfast." He barely completed the word breakfast before Sasuke rushed in. "Ready! I vote Starbucks. Your treat, of course." The dark young man looked like a model from a magazine. The top buttons were undone on his shirt and his hair was untidy but it was a casual sort of messiness that didn't detract from his overall studious appearance.

It reminded him of the times one of them had woken up early and extremely horny and convinced the other morning sex was the answer. Naturally they would always be late afterwards, but it was usually worth it and his brother's nearly permanent bed-head looked like the same it did when Itachi grabbed and tugged at it to make Sasuke arch his neck. He seemed to love getting his neck bitten and always came when Itachi found that one spot just below his hairline and sunk his teeth in slowly and the slight jerks of his hair enhanced the pleasure.

He adjusted his tie and looked up to find out why his brother hadn't said anything to find Itachi staring at him wistfully. All their brotherly banter was forgotten instantly and both felt that deep, supernatural pull to the other. Itachi moved first and in three steps was before his brother. Sasuke loved the way his brother's dark eyes seemed to devour him and unconsciously licked his lips in anticipation. Itachi's eyes followed the movement and Sasuke leaned up the tiniest bit, expectantly, but Itachi rather abruptly straightened his tie, refusing to look Sasuke in the eye though the younger could see the passion had disappeared again. He tried to break the tension. "I just got it all comfy, Itachi, why do you have to mess with it?"

"It was crooked. You'll be strolling into class late, without a pass, and causally sipping a frappuccino. You should at least be in proper dress code." He turned and grabbed his keys on the way out the door. Sasuke lagged behind a bit to recover, though he wasn't sure if he was relieved or angry.

"How do you think you did? That test had questions on it I don't think we ever went over in class."

"I bet I aced it," Naruto told Neji confidently, "but that's because Sasuke was texting me about it until two in the morning." He sounded annoyed but was happily sipping his juice box and swinging his legs in time with Sasuke's munching on his sandwich.

"You always forget all the details, Naruto. Do you even know how many times you asked me about comma splices and dangling modifiers?" Naruto wasn't the reason he was angry but everything the blond did was irritating when he was agitated to begin with. He put down his sandwich and stole an Oreo from him vindictively. "Do you have to be such a dumbass? Sometimes I think rocks have more brains than you." He glared at his food; he didn't want to eat the sandwich his brother made for him.

The table was dead silent for a moment. Sasuke noticed and looked up at Naruto, whose expression was a bit hurt. Sasuke put the Oreo back on his friend's plate and mentally smacked himself. The blonde was weirdly sensitive about remarks on his intelligence and immediately he felt like an ass. "I'm sorry. I'm just grumpy because…" no way was he telling them all what happened with his brother. "I just get angry at… I mean, it's not you, but… I'm sorry. I'm having a bad day and was unfairly lashing out at you. I didn't mean it." He finished lamely.

"Wow, Sasuke! I don't think you've ever been grumpy before!" The blond said sarcastically. He was smiling again so Sasuke knew his best friend had forgiven him, but as the conversation resumed around them he poked the Uchiha's side and said quietly, "you better tell me later. I think I know anyway, though." He nodded in agreement. These days they were rarely meaner to each other than the occasional punch on the arm or trip in the hallway, so he at least owed his best friend something like an explanation.

Sasuke didn't like the feeling of sneaking around, but if that's what it took to avoid his brother until the storm in his head raged less than he'd stoop to it. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he sighed and stepped into his house fully. Itachi shouldn't be back for another hour, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

He left his shoes and book bag by the front door then collapsed on the couch, sighing. He couldn't blame Naruto—if anything, Naruto helped them. Tomorrow, Sasuke promised himself, he would get Naruto a cupcake or buy him a magazine to make sure the boy didn't still feel guilty. It was understandable though; hours before breaking things off completely, Itachi had spoken to his best friend. Sasuke and Naruto had talked it out however, and reached the conclusion that while the blonde's words had some influence, they were not what changed Itachi's mind.

Something happened between getting out of the shower and when Sasuke entered the room. But what? All he heard was the telephone, yet nothing he could imagine Orochimaru saying should cause Itachi to break up with him. Itachi obviously wasn't attracted to the man, and Orochimaru didn't know about their relationship.

Maybe it was as Itachi said, and he tried but just couldn't handle fucking his brother. Perhaps it really was as simple as that.

So why was it so easy for Itachi to be a mere brother? Why must Sasuke devote every ounce of energy into pretending to be normal?

Sleep drifted in, like a butterfly landing gently on a flower, and he was asleep not minutes later, encased in troubled doubts.

When Itachi walked into the house an hour later, Sasuke lay sprawled on the couch snoring ever so softly. Functioning on automatic, he dropped his books, bags and shoes and quietly padded over to his brother. An arm he outstretched to the back of the couch and leaned on it to hover over his brother. Sasuke's arm was across his eyes, but a glance from this angle assured him his brother was really sleeping. He grinned and bent closer, aiming to kiss Sasuke softly when he remembered this was forbidden.

He stood and scowled at himself. Though he'd barely lasted the weekend, Sasuke seems to have been much better off. He could even sleep so soundly!

Grabbing his books, he went to his bedroom; it didn't seem to be a good idea to stay in the same room as the cause of his pain, who also happened to be the biggest temptation of his entire life.

Three hours later, Itachi glanced up from his homework. His appetite neglected to appear, but figured Sasuke would probably be hungry. So he went to the kitchen and to heat up something from the freezer (he was too distracted to notice what) and peeked out into the living room. Otouto was still sleeping; he stuck the whatever-it-was into oven then went to wake up the little angel.

Little noises were coming from the dark form on the couch. By the light from the kitchen, he could see Sasuke's face scrunched up and as he got closer too waken his brother, he realized the noises were sounds of pain and the pale hands were clutching at his stomach. Anxiously, he took hold of his brother's shoulders and jostled him. "Sasuke! Are you ok? Wake up!" A breathless moment passed and Sasuke's eyes snapped open, looking at his brother with relief.

"I had the weirdest dream, 'tachi," and he pulled the hand from his shoulder, uncurling it and gliding it down his body to his groin. "Everything was happening wrong, and I couldn't explain it." He lifted his hips up into his brother's hand as he pressed it into himself, but at that second remembered his dream wasn't such a dream after all.

"You…" he blushed fiercely and sat up suddenly, nearly knocking Itachi in the head. Itachi yanked his hand back and an awkward silence stepped in.

"What did I do in your dream?" The elder asked hesitantly. If Sasuke said *anything* about sex, he was going to forget again all the reasons he shouldn't. But as soon as he thought that, he remembered how much he didn't deserve to and it sobered him sufficiently.

"You were, um…" He couldn't very well say 'screwing me into the floor.' That would be inappropriate in their current situation. Unfortunately, the dumbest lie he'd ever told came out of his mouth. "You were a penguin!"

"A penguin?" Disbelief oozed from those three syllables. Of all the animals to be compared to, why a penguin?

Sasuke's inane cover for the awkward moment was weak, and he knew it. He was very nervous Itachi would find out what he had really dreamt but was trying to seem not at all nervous, which unfortunately caused him to ramble. "Well, only for a little while. Then you turned into one of the blue people, like centaurs, you know? From Animorphs. Anyway, you defeated the Galactic Empire with the help of Lestat, but then he turned you into a vampire. But after that, we all joined forces with Lelouch and battled for Narnia to get it from the evil clutches of Sauron and Light Yagami, who had unfortunately teamed up and were using the power of the One Death Ring to steal people's hearts. So to win, L recruited us and a giant red robot that functioned on circular energy along with some small Disney characters with keys, but then Naruto turned into a powerful ninja with the power to summon killer ramen noodles to strangle his opponents and he and Dane Cook won the Dark Tournament. They didn't find Riku there, though, so that was a bummer." Sasuke received no response to that, so he coughed. "Ahem. That's why I was confused when I woke up."

He climbed off the couch and attempted to act nonchalant. "It's dinnertime, right? I'm starving." A glance at Itachi showed he'd broken out of whatever trance he'd gotten himself stuck into.

"Yeah. Let's eat." They chatted about school, discussed homework, and ate as if nothing was wrong; meanwhile, every brief touch was an electric shock; every word or phrase said 'I love you, but this is for the best;' and the food tasted like ash in their mouths as they forced it down, feeding the wrong appetite with every spoonful.

Though they sat across from each other, neither had ever felt more alone.

"Wait here." Naruto pulled his best friend back into the locker room as everyone else finished changing and left. Their classmates ignored them; most people liked one or the other of the two boys enough not to rat them out for cutting class. Once everyone had gone, the blond fixed his friend with a look. "Explain yourself, please."

"What's there to explain?" Sasuke huffed and untied his gym sneakers. If they were going to skip class, he wished Naruto had told him before he changed for gym. "I told you last week that I broke things off with Itachi. What more do you want?"

Sasuke was unprepared for the hug. "Stop trying to act all unaffected. It just makes me want to hug you." The blond withdrew but sat on the bench next to his friend. "It's been two weeks, actually, and you've been moody and you won't talk to me." Though touched at the attention, Uchiha couldn't resist giving Naruto a look, to which the blond punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You know what I mean. More moody and unresponsive than usual."

He didn't move for a while, and Naruto stayed unexpectedly silent. Finally Sasuke spoke. "I didn't want to, but I felt like I had no choice." He rubbed his head, annoyed at the return of the migraine. "I should never have said anything. It wasn't perfect, but at least I wasn't alone."

"Don't be an idiot." That startled Sasuke out of his daze. His best friend was supposed to comfort him, not make him feel worse! "If he wasn't treating you right, then you did exactly what you should have."

"But why do I feel worse now than before?" he asked miserably. Somewhere, Sasuke understood what Naruto said was true. He just didn't know what to do now. How was he, who'd never had a relationship other than Itachi, supposed to deal with losing his cherished lover?

"Well, you're ready to forgive him, right?" Sasuke nodded and subtly checked his eyes—he'd been crying way too often lately and he was never sure when the tears would start. "Judging from what you said that he told you, don't you think that phone call was connected to this? That's apparently when Itachi's stance changed."

"Yeah. But it's not like you can threaten Itachi with anything. He's a genius. He can get out of anything—nobody can trap him."

"What if someone, somehow, convinced him that you'd be better off without him?"

Sasuke scoffed. "He screwed me in front of his friends. I doubt he cares what's best for me to begin with."

They were silent for a while; though blackmail made the most sense at the moment, Sasuke couldn't think of anything a person could blackmail Itachi with. His brother had perfect grades, near perfect attendance, excelled at everything he did and never did anything embarrassing. The only thing that the perfect brother was doing wrong was… him. But Itachi's friends knew better than to betray him, didn't they?

Naruto, for his part, knew Itachi cared. He hadn't seen him since that day at the gym, but it was painfully obvious he loved his younger brother more than anything. Naruto just needed proof. He also needed to find out about the phone call, because he knew Itachi would give in to any demands to protect Sasuke. Luckily, he had a connection at Itachi's college so he could look into that and remove whatever obstacle was in the way. Sasuke had been through enough and helped out Naruto more than he could count—he deserved better than misery. The blond gave his friend a one-armed hug, then said, "Alright, I have plan that could get your brother back."

Sasuke looked doubtful, but his best friend was so sure of himself that Sasuke couldn't resist believing him. "I'll hear you out at least." He grudgingly replied, not ready to admit that whatever plan the blond came up with he would go through with. If there was even a one percent chance of succeeding, he would go through with it. He was desperately lonely, and the only person who could soothe the ache in his heart was Itachi.

* * *

The professor had been droning on for the past half hour and still hadn't said anything Itachi didn't already know; Kisame, his only friend in the class, came in late then promptly fell asleep so he had no one to talk to. He wasn't in the mood for communication anyhow. Mindlessly he took notes while he sunk deep in memories of his brother in the hopes that he could go over everything they'd done and then be over it, or as close to over the love of his life—nay, his entire world—as he could be.

A particular memory came to his mind that he deduced was bringing itself to the forefront because he kept thinking about it the day almost two weeks ago. If there was one memory he didn't want to lose, this was near the top of his list. On one of the rare occasions he and Sasuke went out instead of staying at home screwing, they had gone to the mall for some quality brother bonding time (not *bondage* time, as Sasuke had to point out).

[

"If you consider how guilty he felt, especially for the death of his half-sister, the series couldn't have ended any other way. For him, the Requiem plan was the only way to atone for it. His best friend felt the same way—that's why he aided him." In general, Itachi never let himself get sucked into anime but every now and then one caught his eye.

"The ending made sense, true, but I just can't understand the characters' motives behind it. They could have had a happy ending if they wanted. I feel like they gave it up," he snapped his fingers, salty from the French fries, "like _that_ because they didn't communicate effectively." He had to raise his voice a bit for that last part as a crowd of noisy teenage theater-goers passed near their table, getting items from the Food Court before seeing some depressingly shallow movie.

"Five bucks says they're going to see the sequel to '_Evening_.'" Itachi had followed his brother's gaze to the ditzy girls squealing and giggling obnoxiously and classifying the entire menu into things either vampires or werewolves would eat, a topic that apparently required shrill arguments. "I thought vampires didn't consume anything but blood…" he muttered, annoyed at the wimpification vampires had suffered at the hands of a single writer.

Sasuke smirked and finished his drink, reaching across the table to steal an onion ring from his brother. Itachi was more than likely right, but he figured it was healthy for Itachi to have someone disagree with him every so often. "You never know- there's that movie about the end of the world that just came out."

An eyebrow rose at that. "Are you sure you want to bet against me? I never lose. Plus, your choice implies they would understand a more complex movie. I doubt they have the brainpower."

Sasuke doubted it too, but he sensed a challenge. "Fine." He said. "And let's bet something other than cash, since our money comes from the same source." He went to steal another onion ring, but Itachi deftly captured his hand without breaking eye contact. Slowly, he brought the hand up to his mouth and bit the food it held, munching slower for every shade darker otouto's blush became. "'tachi! Let go already!" he whisper-shouted at his brother, dropping the remaining part of the ring and tugging to get his hand back.

"Why?" Itachi was a master of one word answers— he could pack a paragraph full of meaning into one single syllable. He held his brother's hand tighter, annoyed Sasuke was resisting a simple touch.

"I'm not comfortable doing stuff like this in public. I'm not embarrassed about being seen with you," he added quickly to cut off aniki's expected response. "And my closest friends know, so that's not the problem…"

'Why should I care if his friends know he doesn't like PDA?' Itachi misinterpreted, brushing it aside as a more exciting thought launched itself to his mouth. "I'll let go if we change the betting reward. Winner gets to choose where we do _it_ next." Sasuke still looked hesitant, so he subtly slipped a finger in his mouth without any of the people around them seeing.

The action turned Sasuke on and made him anxious at the same time, furtively glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. "Alright, fine, just let go." The moment assent was given, his hand was relinquished.

The table the Uchiha were eating at was close enough to the theater that once the girls had obtained their milkshakes and went to get their movie tickets, Sasuke could see and hear all that they did and said. Itachi didn't bother turning around since he knew the outcome. He calmly finished his burger, musing over the extra time he'd have to put in at the gym to erase the greasy mess otouto (and his stomach) convinced him to eat.

Sasuke felt his heart sink a little each time a girl got a ticket for the movie Itachi figured they'd see. 'Just once, universe. Just once, can Itachi be wrong?' He looked to the sky in the midst of his irritated plea. Once he looked at the ceiling and through the skylight he saw darkening clouds roll in, he said, "looks like a storm's starting, aniki."

He chuckled in response. "Don't try to distract me. I won." He added more smugly than was called for. But hey, he liked winning. "You finished? We should go. I hate driving in the rain." Sasuke nodded, and Itachi disposed of their trash while Sasuke grabbed their coats. Itachi heard a faint rumbling as they walked past the theater, but he assumed it was a movie. Until he went to open the door to the outside parking lot, when lightning flashed and rain poured down with the strength of a waterfall.

"I guess we're stuck here for a bit." Itachi said grouchily, his mood turning a bit sour.

"Why? It's not like you're incapable of driving in the rain, you just need your glasses." A thought struck Sasuke as he followed his brother back into the mall proper. "You didn't bring them, did you?" he accused. Well, it just meant they'd wait longer before having sex when they got home, and on the rare occasions they were forced to wait the anticipation had made it more intense. "What do you want to do until then?"

Checking briefly to make sure no one saw, he snagged otouto's upper arm and pulled him into a deep, shady alcove that you could only see into if you knew to look for it, and only then a certain angle. Itachi knew this and took advantage of it the moment Sasuke back hit the wall. He pressed his brother into it and went for his neck with the speed of a vampire, licking in a zigzag pattern from his collarbone to his ear to elicit pleasing shivers from his otouto, a dead giveaway that the younger was aroused.

"Itachi, no-nya!" The hand at his crotch stopped all protest as his older brother forcefully massaged the rapidly growing erection that Sasuke's jeans could barely hide. A passionate kiss dominated his mouth, inhibiting speech until otouto was convinced there was no need to say no.

The precaution was unnecessary, because every time aniki thrust his tongue into his mouth in mimicry of what their bodies would soon be doing, rational thought banished itself. He moaned, the sound escaping with each withdrawal of his brother's hot tongue. He didn't care about how messy his face was getting from their sloppy kiss; he just knew the burning in his veins that ached for his brother could only be satisfied in the most obscene way.

Almost of its own accord his left leg moved up to curl around Itachi's hip, beginning a grind to ease the sudden need for friction. He looped an arm around Itachi's shoulder for balance and to pull their bodies closer. Aniki's moan of approval rumbled against his chest and he reached for his hand to intertwine their fingers, holding hands like Itachi liked to do, to make up before for when everyone was watching—

"Oh shit." Sasuke mumbled against Itachi's lips. His brother pulled back, wondering what on earth his brother would want to stop these pleasurable feelings for. "Itachi! People can see us here!" He dropped his leg and pushed Itachi away as best he could though it took all his strength to keep him at an arm's length.

His brother's chest rose fast beneath his hands, at least as rapidly as his own. There was the faint flush of need on his older brother's face. "No one will see us here. I promise. That's why I chose this spot." Soothingly he placed his hands over his brothers on his chest, trying to draw Sasuke back to him before he ran.

"Nuh-uh!" He shook his head. "This isn't right! Not out here!"

"I won the bet, didn't I? I'm cashing in my favor." He got a better grip on Sasuke's hands despite his squirming. It didn't help that he'd backed himself into the wall again. 

But he protested still, trying to explain what he had thought obvious. "I thought you meant 'where' *_in our house!*_ As much as I want you, I can't do this here."

Itachi was really getting irritated. "Why not? No one will see—they _can't_ see—and you're not giving me a real reason." The flush across Sasuke's cheeks was leaving at a fast rate, an indicator that the younger boy was indeed serious. He paled completely when a noisy family of five passed the alcove not even five feet from where they were standing.

Sasuke bit his lip. "I don't like the idea of other people around when I… give myself to you." He was avoiding Itachi's piercing eyes in favor of the floor, though he was squeezing both of Itachi's hands that now held his in reassurance. "It's our moment and I don't want other people having a part in it. Plus, despite what you say, this spot has to be visible otherwise you would never have found it."

Itachi sighed in defeat. "Fine. When you say it like that, I can't argue." He smiled and dropped the hands he held. "Come on. You said you needed a new pair of jeans, right?" His brother happily followed after him. He had given up, but only for now. Surely he could convince Sasuke in a more private location…

Once they were in the appropriate store and Sasuke had picked out two different styles to try on, he sought a dressing room but was only able to locate one in the back corner, where the three nearest ones were labeled 'out of order.' Though how a room can be out of order was beyond him.

"I'll wait out here, Sasuke." The boy nodded and went in. To Itachi the silence felt a little awkward, so he attempted a trivial conversation. "Do you think it'll—" a peal of thunder interrupted him and practically shook the walls. "I suppose it won't be ending so soon. The storm must really be—" this time the power interrupted him as the lights flickered and went out.

"Itachi?" Sasuke called out childishly. Not that he was afraid of the dark, but it was sudden and startling. The door cracked open and in the light of otouto's cell phone he saw his brother motioning him in. Itachi sensed his chance to retry semi-public sex and ducked in. "That's a good pair. Did you try the other ones on?"

"Yeah. I don't know which is better. And since you're using your share of the money I figured you could choose."

"How about since I'm the one who sees your ass in them, I get to choose which one makes it look better?" Sasuke blushed but couldn't quite object.

The manager called out, "we've been advised to keep everyone in the store until the power comes back on. This is an effort to prevent shoplifting while the electronic antitheft sensors are out. If you would like to leave, you may put any unpurchased merchandise on the counter and wait for a mall cop to scan you, then escort you from the building. Thank you for your compliance." A few groans were heard, but since no one wanted to make a fuss or be accused of shoplifting, the customers and coworkers began talking amongst themselves.

"Hmm." Itachi kept his voice down. "Since we're stuck here, you don't suppose you want to continue?" He reached out to the bulge in his brother's pants. "You seem to be up for it."

Sasuke flushed, and then peeked out the door again. The dim light afforded him enough sight to see that most customers were in the main part of the store, and a check for feet under the stall proved that they were the only ones in the dressing room area. "If we keep it quiet and make it quick, then I suppose we—" he wasn't allowed another word as his mouth was once again dominated by his forceful aniki.

He traced the outline of Sasuke's lips to tease him then delved in as his hands worked on unbuttoning his jeans. He reveled in the moans he received and the feel of Sasuke's fingertips gently running across his stomach in a blind attempt to find his belt buckle. Yanking down the zipper, he shoved the jeans down as far as he could without leaving his brother's hot mouth.

The younger moaned and left off undoing his brother's pants to get his own down far enough to kick them off. He heard a faint ripping sound and pulled back to mutter "hope that wasn't the tag." He licked at his brother's open mouth and sucked in the warm, wet muscle that responded in kind.

"Doesn't matter." He replied and kissed his way along his neck, using his grip in the short black hair to pull his head to the side. "You're not getting them. They're too tight on you." He whispered between sucks on his neck. "I don't want other people seeing you look so sexy." The heat from Sasuke's blush was unmistakable. Plus the newly formed hickeys were nice to look at.

Itachi's breath on his neck tickled in an arousing way and he shivered as he finished getting his brother's pants open. He went to the boxers next and tugged them until his brother's cock and balls were clearly visible. "Ah!" The sharp bite at his neck hurt just enough to feel good but it startled him and he stuffed his hand in his mouth to muffle the noise while the other hand clenched into his brother's shirt.

"How do you want to do this?" there was no sight in the world as alluring as Sasuke, panting with red lips and cheeks doused in a blush, neck stained with the dark mark of ownership, bare white legs quivering in excitement and cock hard as stone—*_all for Itachi*_. "I don't have lube," he said regretfully. "You want me to spit or do you…?"

Sasuke got the message and dropped to his knees, licking all over his brother's head. He knew he could make his brother slicker than Itachi's hand-spit combo would. He put his mouth around him, gently but hastily moving his tongue around the sides to get him slick. A barely restrained thrust surprised him and he moved his hands to grasp around his brother's hips. As a reward for Itachi's uncharacteristic restraint, he pulled his cock further into his mouth and pushed his tongue over the head and onto the roof of his mouth. Itachi grunted and tried to resist thrusting at the feel of his sensitive head under Sasuke's tongue; his bottom teeth brushed the underside of his shaft, igniting the tiniest bit of pleasurable pain.

Sasuke slipped his cock back out of his mouth and coated the top, sucking and licking so he was slick, even giving a teasing kiss at the base when he felt his brother pulse in his hand. Then he pushed Itachi's cock up until it was almost touching his stomach and licked down in fast, wet strokes of tongue that left him shining with saliva. His brother groaned softly, and Sasuke almost couldn't help himself as he swirled his tongue around his balls one by one.

Sasuke pulled away with a wet sound. He wanted to make smart-ass comment, because Itachi hadn't looked this aroused in a while, but his brother yanked him up and devoured his mouth again. He moaned and bucked his hips against his older brother's when Itachi grabbed his ass firmly with both hands, spread the cheeks, and slipped in a pointer finger from each hand. They slid in easily, so he must have wet them when Sasuke wasn't looking, but he didn't care. He wanted his brother, and wanted him *_right now_.*

The stretching went too quickly to be fully effective, but after the third finger was in Sasuke hooked his leg around his brother's hips urgently. "Come on," he mumbled against the hot mouth still moving against his. "Put it in already!"

Wrapping an arm around Sasuke's waist, Itachi lifted him so he could use both his legs and his arms to latch onto him. After encouraging Sasuke with gentle pressure on the back of his head to muffle his mouth in his neck, he lined himself up with his hole with his spare hand.

The first thrust only pushed the head in and Itachi paused, wanting desperately to get in, just not at the cost of tearing his Sasuke. A few moments passed and Sasuke worked his own hips down a bit, then back up. Down a little, up a little, and again, until the rhythm began. The lovers worked together until Itachi's pelvis was hitting Sasuke's ass and his entire length was in.

Itachi thrust as fast as he could, gravity and Sasuke working to drive his ass back down. The tight heat enveloping his cock was unbelievable. Sasuke was being driven crazy, and any effort not used to get his brother deeper in was used to keep himself hushed. They were too turned on to take their time; any moment now the lights could turn back on and the rush to release and heightened anticipation brought them to a quicker climax than usual.

Itachi bit down where he'd left marks on Sasuke's neck before at the same time otouto groaned, vibrating his neck, at the pressure relieved. He giggled into aniki's ear. "My vision's kind of blurry, but I think the lights are back on."

Itachi cautiously slipped himself out of his brother and made sure he could stand on his own before releasing him to find the napkins he'd hid in his pockets earlier. "That's the power of love. They say it burns brightest in the dark." Sasuke blushed but the ridiculous toothy smile on his face outshone it. He ignored the napkin his brother tried to hand to him to clean himself off and hugged him instead. "I love you too, Itachi."

Though five minutes later as he limped past a mirror in the store, he rethought his words and punched his brother's shoulder. "Go find me a scarf now!" He hissed. "I can't walk around with hickeys that 'mysteriously' appeared when the lights were out!" Itachi laughed at otouto's use of air quotes, retrieving the item unaware of the loving smile glued to his face.

]

Damn! Now he was hopelessly turned on without hope of relief. He shifted and subtly glanced towards his lap. Yup. The hard-on was visible through his jeans, though he could probably readjust them to hide it. At best, there were ten more minutes until class ended if the professor let them out early. Except he rarely did, so it that meant fifteen minutes remained in which he could un-arouse himself, or hold off taking care of it in the bathroom.

And he missed Sasuke even more now.

His only consolation, as he sat in class and ached for Sasuke in every way one human can crave another, was that at least his brother was better without him. That memory was sweet; one of the few times they'd finished so quickly. Plus… it was hard to put into words, even in his thoughts, but their connection had felt so strong since they'd become lovers. The time at the mall stood out as the first time he'd considered their bond almost supernatural. It was unnatural in the first place, he knew, so the familial element combined with their status as lovers most likely contributed. But.

He wanted Sasuke back. Anyone else, less skilled in the art of self-sacrifice would have caved to the ceaseless temptation. Very little was required to reach his brother. A short ride to his high school, a mere telephone call…

The phone in his pocket felt heavy suddenly, tempting him to text his brother and take back every harsh word, every rough treatment, every wrong move and beg him to forget all he'd said that day. Yet the temptation was only that, temptation, and the second his hand touched the phone to actually follow through he remembered the other conversations that day—Naruto, concerned for his mistreated friend, and Orochimaru, who had put them on the same level.

'You can do so much better than me, Sasuke.' He thought and sighed. 'But as long as I know you're not hurting anymore, I will not inflict myself on you.'

Kisame suddenly snored loudly next to him, startling Itachi and catching the professor's attention. He stopped his lecture and pointed at the student who interrupted him. "Itachi, wake that moron up, please." Professor Madara said. Ever the kind and caring friend, he thwacked Kisame on the head with his notebook. It earned a few laughs but more importantly woke the lazy student. Once he was fully awakened and aware of the whole class staring at him, he reddened and apologized. "Sorry, Professor! It was a crazy weekend. There was all this homework to do and football practice—"

"Shut it." Those girls in the front row giggled, whispering not-so-silently how hot their professor's irritated expression was. Madara was a favorite among the students, as he was generally laidback and funny, though he also taught well and was not an unreasonable grader; he never put up with bullshit and seemed to have a special grudge against the blue-haired man. "Your friendship with my nephew doesn't mean you can slack off in my class. If I catch you again, you're out." Kisame nodded, clearly intimidated by the man little more than half his size.

Madara went to change the PowerPoint slide, then looked at Itachi. "And I know you weren't paying attention either, Itachi, so don't think you've outsmarted me." Itachi nodded, stoic as ever but a little embarrassed he'd gotten caught. By the time Madara finished teaching the lesson, class ended. His hard-on was mostly willed away. Itachi put his materials away and carefully stood, positioning the bag in front of his groin to hide the issue that had arisen. Literally. Just in case anyone looked too closely.

"Itachi, come here please." Uncle Madara called over. With a shrug at Kisame Itachi darted away, thankful for the excuse to dodge the 'hang out with me' conversation with the football player, yet apprehensive for there was an undeniably odd expression on Madara's face as he watched his nephew climb down the stairs through the gap between rows of seats. Madara waited until Itachi was standing next to him before smiling as he usually would.

"Sorry I missed hanging out the other weekend; however I've heard you all haven't done anything in a while because of homework. You should take a break with me," he paused their conversation to accept a paper from a student, reminding her of the late penalty to her grade. She didn't seem to mind; she flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder while her eyes danced between the professor and his nephew. They looked alike, even their hair was a similar length, though Itachi's was longer and he stood a few inches taller.

Madara was Itachi's dad's younger brother by a few years, so he was in his early forties. Fortunately for him (or his reputation, anyway) he was still young enough to fall into the category of 'hot older man' with the added 'forbidden' of being a professor. This girl, like many others who watched longingly from the front row, entertained far too many fantasies involving themselves, Professor Madara, and (more often than not) his attractive young nephew.

Madara rolled his eyes as she strutted away like she thought she was everything he wanted. "So you want to grab dinner?" He packed his bag. "My treat."

"Actually, I have to go to class." He honestly liked his uncle, just lately he wasn't in the mood to hang out with anyone.

The frown Itachi was met with in return reminded him of the flaw in his lie, which Uncle pointed out immediately. "Itachi, I know your schedule. So either I'm going senile or you're lying to me." The professor's textbook disappeared into his bag, followed by his laptop. "I don't like those options, even assuming you have a good reason." He looked Itachi straight in the eye, giving him a moment to say something but since Itachi couldn't deny the lie and knew his uncle wouldn't appreciate being called crazy, he kept silent.

His uncle nodded like he understood something, then slipped into his coat. "I'll drive." Itachi went with him, slightly ashamed that he had lied. If he'd been truthful, he might've gotten out of it. But telling his uncle he didn't want to hang out, for any reason, would hurt the man's feelings unnecessarily. And after their rocky relationship—in the aftermath of Mikoto's and Fugaku's deaths, Itachi had been utterly convinced Madara was after the inheritance money, which led to a couple fights and an exchange of words that had taken years to remedy—he didn't want to risk messing up their friendship.

The restaurant was nice and at this time of day quiet, but Uncle Madara requested a private room nonetheless. Itachi felt apprehensive though he couldn't pinpoint why. Naturally Uncle was unaffected by the tension and perused the menu before deciding on an old favorite.

"Order whatever you want." Uncle told him, to which Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I told you we have something to discuss, but it'll go better if you relax." Itachi raised his other eyebrow. "I don't care if you don't feel like it. Just eat something."

Itachi picked the first thing he saw on the menu, not caring about the food at all. He idly played with his drink, poking the ice cubes with his straw. Usually he'd distract himself with thoughts of his brother, but what was he supposed to do when it came to distracting himself from his distraction?

"This conversation will be more difficult if you remain all worked up." Itachi's suspicions rose immediately at that; why else would Madara ask for a private room at a restaurant other than to tell him he knew about him and Sasuke? It was the perfect setup. Itachi would never yell or scream at him—certainly not in *_public*_— but the private room insured Madara had just enough privacy to scold him for screwing his brother. And then to tell him he was taking Sasuke away.

His fists clenched up more and Madara couldn't help but notice. "Tell me about school. Are you doing well in your other classes? You're nearly acing mine."

His nephew subconsciously loosened up at the mundane question, and launched into a full description of the recent projects he was working on. By the time he was done, their food and arrived and they were well into the meal. "Sounds like you've been busy. How are all your friends?"

That was an unusual question. What kind of uncle would ask about his friends before inquiring into the well-being of his other nephew? Which could mean he didn't need to ask because he knew—because maybe last night after dinner, before bed when he and Sasuke had playfully fought over the toothpaste like the good brother he was pretending to be, maybe that was the last time he would be allowed to see his baby brother. Was Sasuke already at Uncle Madara's house?

"I suppose they're fine. Like you said earlier, we've had a lot of homework over the past couple weeks so we haven't met."

"Is that the real reason?"

A less wary opponent probably would have choked on his broccoli. "What makes you think it isn't?" Damn, could he be any more obvious that he was hiding something? Though his gut told him Uncle did know exactly what he was hiding.

Madara carefully put down his silverware and wiped his mouth with his napkin before speaking. "Itachi, I received a very interesting phone call from a friend of yours. I wasn't inclined to believe the story he told me, but upon… investigation these claims appear to be true." Itachi flinched, as Uncle looked sufficiently angry. It wasn't a violent anger, more a seething, boiling one that would not explode but completely annihilate the target it was aimed at. Itachi had a feeling he was the target. "Even more interesting was the phone call I got this morning from one of Sasuke's friends, which helped me realize I cannot ignore what you have been up to." Itachi braced himself for it.

"I know about your unbrotherly relationship with Sasuke, Itachi. And I don't like it one little bit."

Any and all feedback is welcome. Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, this is real. No, I have not created a skillful illusion- you are truly viewing the final chapter! Yayz! My excuses and explanations are at the bottom, since I believe most people would prefer to jump right in. just know that a ridiculous amount of writing and editing and rewriting has gone in to this chapter, but some things still aren't what I want them to be. Some famous dead person once said that 'works of art aren't completed, only abandoned' so I guess I'm abandoning this, but really it's completed and I added a bonus tidbit/mini-chapter type thing so… yeah. It's as complete as can be.

ON a totally unrelated side note, does anyone know where Ciel Phantomhive lives? It's somewhere near London but I'm looking for something more specific than that. But you can't just make stuff up- I need a page number or an official source or something. My summer project is looking like an outrageously researched fic with Kuroshitsuji.

And while I'm advertising, everyone go read Noblesse! It's on mangafox, and it's all in color and it's really pretty and funny at the best moments and there's practically no fanfics anywhere, so people need to read it and write about it so that I can read that. It's not a romance but anybody with half an imagination can do SOMETHING with all those pretty boys running around…

and (while I've got your attention) thank you kyarei! I've got to be honest, it scared me a little to know that people actually think about what I've written. lol but I love the criticisms and I changed the summary because it didn't really fit but I was too lazy to do it before, but I'm still not sure if it fits now. it's better, though, right? :) anyway, thanks! and thanks to Sasuke-Fan-723 (random question- are you really the 723 Sasuke fan, or did you pick that number because you like it?)

haha everyone should just ignore me, for much sugar and caffine run through me. huzzah! for monster

Ok. Now I'm done rambling.

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"You know, it never occurred to me to talk to Uncle about this." Naturally, Sasuke didn't mean talking to his uncle about screwing his brother; rather he meant the issue of possible blackmail. Bringing in an adult was not the idea he expected from Naruto, but consulting his Uncle Madara, who was the closest person he had to a father, was a decent proposal.

"That's why you keep me around, right? You want my brains." Naruto whispered as they dashed out the door and weaved carefully through the parking lot, creeping at tire height and sticking as close as possible to the largest cars they could. "Like a zombie!" he said a little too loudly, and Sasuke shushed him by pulling him down to the ground in a grass patch near the lamppost that sat in the middle of the lot, surrounded by the conveniently bulky maintenance vehicles.

"Check the north side. I'll watch the east and south." They sat back to back, scanning the windows to see if they had been spotted. "Clear on my side." Sasuke said, checking again for any teachers or bored students looking out the windows. From where they were, they should have been pretty well hidden without sacrificing a view. Naruto's car was still three rows away, and they had to get there before any of the teachers or security officers noticed. It was a straight run, but there was little cover to be had. Most people—seniors included—took the bus to school, except for the people who are "chronologically challenged," as Naruto called his lateness problem.

"We're clear on my side, too. Are you ready?" Sasuke nodded, and they both took off at top speed.. They reached his car, and Naruto was unlocking the door when they heard a shout come from the east side. "Hey! You two! Halt!"

Naruto almost dropped his keys from laughing. "Hahaha! Did Iruka-sensei just tell us to 'halt?' That guy's a riot!"

"Naruto! Open the damn door! If he gets to the gate before we do, we'll be stuck." Naruto quickly focused—because he certainly did not have ADHD—and unlocked the doors, hopping in and starting it up. Accustomed to his friend's driving habits, Sasuke leaped in swiftly, yanking the door shut. It missed the side mirror of the Toyota next to them by centimeters.

"Who spotted us?" His eye raced over the windows, looking for one guilty face among many. There! Haughtily smug and flipping his long hair over his shoulder, the boy, Neji, was enjoying the scene below. Rich brats like him probably get off on getting people in trouble. That's what student council presidents do. Then again, when he spotted which car it was, he looked a little guilty. Asshole probably only meant to report him and was now regretting it because Naruto was caught in the crossfire. People shouldn't do things they're just going to regret!

His mental rant stopped short when he thought about how back-and-forth he himself had been recently. That didn't matter though, because he was going to make it better. He and Naruto were going to… umm…

"Hey… this might be a bad time to ask, but why, exactly, are we ditching school?"

As soon as Iruka-sensei had begun shouting for them to stop, every student (and most teachers) readily accepted the distraction and watched from the windows to see the excitement as Naruto expertly maneuvered through the twists and turns of the lot, racing their fifth period teacher who was running as fast as he could. If he could just get to the gate, then Naruto would have to stop. Not even Naruto would be careless enough to hit a teacher. Naruto pumped his fist in the air as they zipped through the gateway, their infuriated teacher missing them by several feet.

"Did you see that? That's got to be a new record. I mean, we've outraced people before, but last time it was Kakashi-sensei and he wasn't even trying and before that was Kurenai-sensei and she's pregnant so that counts for even less." He swerved onto the main road, cutting off a car or two in the process. "That's a good question. And the answer is that…" he looked sheepishly at his best friend. "I didn't finish writing the paper due in last period, and since I know you already turned it in I didn't think it was a problem."

Sasuke wasn't sure what to do with that. He was all for his friend taking advantage of the lousy security at school to take extra time to complete his work, and he generally wasn't so selfish, but he couldn't help but ask: "how does this help my problem?"

"I'm glad you asked!" He did look glad. "Who's the one person that can get information from Itachi? Your uncle, of course." Sasuke nodded, having listened to Naruto's half of the phone conversation; they are fortunately few people in town named 'Madara' and even fewer addressed as 'sensei.' "And once your uncle gets the information what that person who called over him, then we'll remove the obstruction and there's no reason you guys can't get back together." He adjusted his rearview mirror for the umpteenth time. "Hey, can you write on a post-it to fix this? It gets all wobbly every time I drive recklessly."

"The solution might be to drive 'wrecklessly' instead." Sasuke mumbled. He did as asked, and stuck the post-it to the dashboard. He returned the rest of the pad and the pen to the glove box, and remembered his other important question. "Where are we going, anyway? I'm assuming to my brother and Uncle Madara, but aren't they in class right now?"

"They're all done with classes for today, and Madara-sensei took him out to eat so he'd be more cooperative. You guys practically PMS when you're hungry." He paused, noticing a guy on the sidewalk getting pooped on by a pigeon. "Haha! Did you see that? I wish I caught that on vid… eo…" he trailed off at the glare he received. "Ahem. Anyway, I'm dropping you off at your place. Your uncle suggested we meet there, since it'd be easiest to confront Itachi there. Plus he should be more comfortable in his own house than in the restaurant."

There were silent for a bit, Naruto bouncing happily in his seat because he had more time to finish his paper (that is, if he remembered when he got home), and Sasuke was trying to figure out why (and since when) his best friend had his uncle's phone number. Naruto's grandfather did know a lot of people, so it's possible he was friends with one of the professors Uncle hung out with. A faint growling emanated from Naruto's stomach. "So… you wanna stop for lunch? I'm starved."

He had every intention of being annoyed with Naruto, but his stomach rumbled too and he couldn't argue that the hungrier he was, the grouchier he was. Not a good mindset to begin with. "Yeah, alright. I'd rather not have an empty stomach. Once we figure out what's keeping him from me, I'm going to strap him to the bed and make up for lost time." His body physically ached for his brother—regardless of what went down today, it would end with him and Itachi having crazy, unrestrained make-up sex. He was sure of it.

"Nothing says love like bondage." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "Where should we eat? Fast food would be quickest—duh—but I can't put garbage like that into a gorgeous body like this." He gestured to himself.

"We could just go meet them at the restaurant. I know they'll still be there. Do you know which one they went to? Uncle never minds paying for us." He never minded paying because he liked filling in the father role. He had no kids of his own and loved doting on his only nephews.

"Yeah! He told me on the phone, though I can't believe he didn't think of this. 'After a good _dinner_ one can forgive anybody, even one's own relatives."~ He smiled happily at the thought of free food and changed their course.

"So he told you then." The faintest ripple of worry caused a wrinkle between his nephew's brows, but other than that his face showed none of the turmoil within. Yet Madara had known him long enough to see the signs of his anxiety—the tightening of the muscles around his eyes, the slightest twitching of his trigger finger. "However, there's no need for you to intervene. Sasuke and I aren't doing those things anymore. We talked about it and came to the agreement that we should stop." Concise, to the point, and not overtly rude. "And we have." He added, just in case his uncle tried to pursue the point or engage himself further in Itachi's business.

"For two weeks, now, correct?" He could tell it caught Itachi off guard; the child should give him more credit. You can't grow up in an Uchiha home and dodge the lesson about noticing everything. Details are everything.

"How do you know that?" He watched his nephew work it out as he sipped his drink (probably should have gone non-alcoholic, but too late now). "Naruto told you, didn't he?"

"Yes." Internally, he smiled. Fugaku would have been proud of his oldest son. "Charming boy—why doesn't he hang out with Sasuke more? He'd be a good influence. Unlike some people." All right, so Fugaku wouldn't be proud of all the things his eldest was doing. Madara could see the guilt flash across Itachi's face, and a touch of confusion. Perhaps he wasn't being clear? "You need to understand exactly what I'm 'upset' about, to put it lightly. What you two do in private is none of my affair, so long as your younger brother is not getting hurt.

"But you hurt him." He said slowly, making sure that every syllable wounded. "You, who swore to protect him *from* everything by *any* means necessary." He paused for effect, letting the charges sink into guilty ears. "*You* have been hurting him."

"Ju—"

"Let me finish." He stopped him in a clipped tone. "You didn't want to get in trouble with me, so you hurt your brother even worse than that debacle the other Friday—" Itachi was lucky that he couldn't stop himself from wincing. It at least showed that he knew he was wrong— "all to cover your own ass."

Itachi looked like he wanted to say so many things that he could hardly decide what to say first. Eventually he settled on "so you're mad—

"Seething, boiling, raging, horrendously angry is much closer to how I'm feeling right now." Madara smiled the smile that wasn't a smile, merely a showing a teeth. He enjoyed a little too much the slight shiver it caused in his young nephew.

"because I embarrassed him—'to put it lightly—'" Those little air quotes kicked Madara's anger up a notch. Even six feet under in trouble, Itachi couldn't lose that damn attitude of his. How the devil did little Sasuke love him? Madara loved Itachi because they were family but the kid was a real brat sometimes.

Itachi dropped his hands back to his lap, as if he hadn't meant to mock his uncle, and continued. "and that he's miserable now. But I wasn't trying to avoid punishment. Honestly. I just thought that if you knew, then you'd take him away from me… to live with you."

"Still sounds like you're looking out for yourself again." It was only halfway true. If he actually separated them, they would both fall apart, and tearing up his favorite relative's lives was the furthest thing from his mind. No fun in letting Itachi know that yet, though. "That's the trouble with this generation—all you post-moderns are much too focused on yourselves. What *you* want, what *you* feel. Though, the selfishness of your generation certainly springs from mine." His philosophical ramblings would have to be postponed; there were other things to discuss now.

The boy sat, looking exceptionally wretched and supremely guilty. He stared at his plate, not budging an inch, and hardly breathing. Madara refrained from grinning, because that wouldn't be appropriate. But as an adult, he knew it was time to stop fooling around and get down to what he really wanted to do.

"Regardless, Naruto and I have decided we're going to solve this once and for all. We will go take care of the problem while you beg for forgiveness from your brother and hope he is kind enough to take you back." His oldest nephew looked way to hopeful now. "I must warn you that if I catch the faintest hint that you are treating him like *anything* less than the precious little child that he is, I will remove him from your care." With sincere regret, "when your parents died, I swore I wouldn't; but the unspoken condition was that you wouldn't hurt him. If you break your side of the deal again, I will not hesitate to break mine."

Itachi digested that, and nodded. "Understood. I promise." His posture was proper now, and resolve shone in his eyes. "Thank you, uncle. I won't let either of you down."

"Good." Madara carefully kept the malice off his face, and Itachi was too busy plotting how to make it up to his brother—again—to notice. Of course, when an Uchiha doesn't notice something, it generally leads to their downfall. As it turns out, Itachi really should have paid more attention. Could the boy really think that all Madara's anger could be done away with so easily?

"I'm sorry, sir, but he left a few minutes ago. You just missed him." The hostess smiled flirtatiously at Naruto. "Is there anything… else I can help you with?"

As politely as he could, Naruto ran out of the restaurant, shouting over his shoulder. "No thanks, I'm gay! I mean, I'm good!"

Sasuke shook his head, following at a slower pace so people wouldn't think that they were together in any sense of the word. He left the hostess pouting at the podium and walked out the door trying to remember how long his uncle took to eat.

Unless there was an unnecessary delay (and that was unlikely, considering Uncle Madara and Itachi were both good looking and Uncle was generous with his money and it was barely afternoon) Itachi would have taken about seventeen minutes to eat dinner and Uncle usually finished in just under twenty. Then, even factoring in wait time and traveling time, he and Naruto shouldn't have missed them. He'd been paying attention in the car and had seen neither Itachi's nor Uncle Madara's vehicles throughout the drive. At the earliest, his relatives could be just leaving now, but then he would have spotted them. Unless they hadn't finished, and decided to take their food home?

Looking around the parking lot, he didn't see his uncle's car. Maybe they had parked in the side lot? It was worth a shot. He saw Naruto standing by the curb, looking up at the sky. "That one looks like the dancing banana, see? Oh, man. Now I'm craving peanut butter and jelly… hey!" He yelled as Sasuke tugged on the back of his hood and dragged him along to look for Itachi's or Madara's car.

"What happened to your 'undying love' for Sakura?"

"You heard about the confession?" Sasuke nodded. "Then you also heard that she threw her mashed potatoes at me in response." The brunette gave his best friend a consoling punch on the arm and Naruto punched his friend in return. "Thanks for the support. Since forever I've had my eye on someone else, a boy, for-your-information, so I'm not too bummed."

"I hope this one works out for you." He replied sincerely as he stole Naruto's phone from his pocket. "My battery ran out at school, so I'm calling Itachi with yours."

"Why? They said we'd meet at your house. Maybe they got dessert! I've been craving cheesecake." Sasuke pointedly ignored the last half of that; and why would Naruto assume cheesecake?

"Something doesn't feel right. First off, as much as I love my uncle I know he's a bit of snob. He'd never miss an opportunity to enjoy an expensive restaurant like this; I bet he got a private room and over-tipped the waitress. Second, they would never get dessert because they don't like sweet things, but that doesn't matter because they should still be here. We would have driven past each other if they had left, but I didn't see them." Itachi's phone went right to voicemail. "Damn."

"Isn't Madara-sensei's car… that black one over there?" Naruto raced over and peeked inside, but turned back to Sasuke, who was following at his heels, disappointed. "It's empty. What's going on?" Even the blonde was starting to feel uneasy, like there was something he was missing. "Were they kidnapped? We could check the alleyway over there, just in case a hollow got to them. They're always attacking people in alleys." He saw Sasuke roll his eyes—too much bleach for Naruto—as he dialed his uncle's number. "Or it could have been the heartless. They're actually pretty similar when you think about it."

"Hush." They were silent and listened as through the phone came a generic ring.

"What's Madara's ringtone?" Naruto asked, completely forgetting that he was checking the skies for unusual weather—a sure sign that *something* might happen. "He's probably got a catchy one. Well, he's a professor, so it'll be like Bach or Debussy. Nice, sophisticated, classical shit…"

Speak of the devil—Auld Lang Syne echoed off the brick walls of the alley Naruto had just been pointing to. "I'll be right back!" Naruto dashed back to his car.

"What the hell is it now?" Sasuke nearly stamped his foot in frustration. His family prized control, but when two dominant males spent time together they usually ended up fighting and he needed to get to his brother and uncle before it got that far.

"I forgot to lock the car, and dad will kill me if it gets stolen! Again!" Naruto may run fast, but Sasuke had a feeling he didn't have the time. He pocketed the phone and ran on ahead towards the alley, straining his ears beyond the ringtone for any clues to the situation.

"I don't get pleasure from questioning everything you do," he said in a tone that implied the opposite, "but why are we back here?" Itachi's question was a fair one. Why would two upstanding members of society spend any amount of time in an alleyway? Sure, it was located relatively close to Madara's car, and was a shortcut if you wanted to go the long way to the car, but that was not an answer.

"If you have to ask, then you did not truly understand what I was saying earlier." Madara stopped walking abruptly, and turned around. He looked carefully at his oldest nephew: the boy had muscles, and was athletic enough, however his build was slender, especially since he wasn't eating well recently and he hadn't been sleeping right without his brother in the same bed and that was all the advantage Madara, a man with a stronger build and a consistently healthy lifestyle, needed.

He took a hand to the center of his nephew's chest and smashed him against the wall hard. The bricks shot out a thin shower of dust as the boy slammed against them with a *thud* accompanied by a sharp exhale, and his nephew doubled over, trying to get air back into his lungs. "What… the… hell?" He gasped.

"You know what! You hurt your brother—making me angrier than I've ever been—and you thought it was a matter solved over lunch?" He snarled. "Sasuke would never take revenge on you, but I certainly will." He gave a kick to his abdomen, and watched Itachi catch it enough to soften the blow but fall to his knees nevertheless. He still couldn't seem to get enough air in his lungs and somehow that just pissed off his uncle even more.

"Talk, tea and biscuits will not diffuse my wrath. You can't possibly understand what you almost exposed him to! Face it. You got lucky! Lucky that I'm here, lucky that I'm not like Fugaku, lucky that I convinced your 'friend' that I would take care of this problem. And I still have to go deal with him after I drop you off!"

He grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet. "What were you thinking? Actually, don't tell me. I'm sure that would take my anger up to eleven." Angrily he pressed him harder into the wall. "You should have been more careful! It's a miracle that we have been able to contain the situation!"

"That's why I told him we were done!" Itachi looked him in the eye with a glare, frustration finally peaking through; he hated himself enough already without his uncle shoving his face in it. "I don't want to put him at risk, so I had to, regardless of how much it might hurt him!" He simultaneously smashed the heel of his hand into Madara's nose and grabbed the hand at his collar, peeling it away and pushing into center of the back, aiming between the bones while twisting his wrist to find the pressure point. Madara anticipated the first half of the move and jerked his head backward to avoid major damage, though he could feel his nose start to drip blood. Itachi had Madara's dominant hand halfway into a hold but his other hand was strong enough to put the kid in his place.

A well-aimed punch to the face knocked him face down into the gravel, and although Itachi gingerly touched his cheek, he didn't stand back up. His face had returned the impassive mask that he'd perfected over the years. Madara felt his rage cooling at the pathetic sight but went right on yelling. "You weren't as helpful as you'd like to believe! Other people know what you two have done, thanks to your stupidity!"

Frustrated, Madara kicked him again, but since Itachi wasn't fighting back anymore, the violence wasn't making him feel better. He needed to join a fight club or something. Or maybe he should revisit his old karate sensei; it couldn't be mere coincidence that his sensei's grandson was his nephew's best friend.

"You impossible child. What am I to do with you? Maybe I should move in with you guys, just to keep an eye on every little thing you do." He crouched down, mood swinging from enraged and aggressive to disappointed and contemplative. "Of all the things that could happen, I'm sure this never occurred to your parents. They always told me if anything happened to them that I should take care of you, especially considering what dear Mikoto's family is like." He sighed heavily. "I suppose I can't blame you. Bonding together was how you both survived, yes?

"You aren't defending yourself very well, either. I'm sure you feel horrible about all the pain you've caused him, but remorse is not going to magically make anything better. An emotion is not enough to make something right. The world cannot be changed with pretty words alone."^ Silence held them in their places a bit longer until Madara knew he was being given the silent treatment, and this wasn't Itachi's usual uncooperative attitude. "You have no intention to communicate with me any further until you see your brother again, hmm?"

No response.

"I guess that's my answer then." Madara stood, and rested a hand on his hip. "I forgot I wasn't going to hit you where he could see so easily. Oh well. You do not want to stir up my wrath again, so I suggest you make up a pretty lie for our dear little Sasuke."

Madara's cell phone rang. 'Auld Lang Syne' filled the small alleyway. "Speak of the devil." A brief look at the front screen showed Naruto's number. It was obvious why Naruto was calling—he'd told the kid they'd be at the house around now, and the impatient runt was bored. And hungry, too, he'd bet; perhaps they should grab some fast food to take back to the house. He'd taken longer than expected, but that's just what you get when you let your anger win. Plus the tipsy feeling was gone so he was good to drive again.

Putting it back in his pocket but not answering it, Madara reached down to help his nephew up. Now that he was calmer he reflected that he really should have stopped earlier. Itachi hardly fought back, and Madara knew it was all part of his deep-rooted guilt. It was also true that Sasuke would never really be able to hurt his brother—not that he wasn't capable, but he wouldn't have the heart to take revenge. Although he seemed reluctant, Itachi accepted the arm that slipped around his torso to help him up. Nothing like a few hits between men to solve some animosity.

The footsteps they hadn't noticed stopped abruptly at the entrance of the alley: a shrill voice commanded, "Don't touch him!"

Sasuke stood with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the now frozen pair, slightly out of breath from the dash, keeping his back straight to appear as tall as possible. There was no way he could fight his uncle, but at the very least he could startle him. Plus he couldn't resist the dramatic pose.

In that moment, Madara reflexively obeyed, and dropped Itachi—who fell back down with a grunt—for 'where there is energy to command well enough, obedience never fails.'^* He faced his youngest nephew, attempting to mask his disappointment at being caught by trying to appear worried. "Sasuke. So good to see you. I found your brother—"

"Don't even." Itachi looked at his brother, and saw anger that at least matched Uncle Madara's in his furrowed brows and scowling pink mouth. "I know what you've been up to." Sasuke's mad eyes flicked down to his brother. Itachi looked away, partly out of guilt and partly out of shame at being seen so beaten. Worry began to dominate his little brother's expression. "You have no right to hurt him. I don't care what you say. Now *move.*" He all but shoved Madara out of the way, who complied mostly out of amusement, and took his place as he struggled to pull Itachi up.

The man rose readily; although the blows had hurt he'd trained long enough in the dojo (like all good little Uchiha children) to have suffered worse. The feeling that he deserved every bit of pain kept him down, but if his Sasuke was going through the trouble of helping him, then he should at least go along with it.

Once standing, however, he gently pushed Sasuke an arm's length away. "Thank you, but I'm strong enough to stand on my own." Ignoring the pain in his abdomen, he brushed off his clothes and adjusted his ponytail. If he could convince his brother that all was fine, they could go back to the apartment without their uncle thereby avoid the awkward conversation Uncle Madara had evidently planned.

If anything, his eyes narrowed further and he set his jaw in the stubborn way he'd learned from his mother. "I don't believe you." Itachi was never one to wobble nor grasp walls for support. If he thought Sasuke was buying his 'I'm fine' act, then he must have been hit in the head.

"You can't stand on your own, but there's so many other things I don't believe." He dismissed the oncoming objection with a wave of his hand and folded his arms across his chest. "This may not be the ideal place," he paused, glancing around and observing no one else besides the three of them, continued, "but I feel like if I don't say it now you won't listen later. I don't believe what you said that day. You betting on me has nothing to do with how dedicated you are to us—that's just your usual arrogance. And while you may have forgotten, I haven't—could never—forget that we only started *because* we are brothers. You developed your aversion to 'aniki' afterwards."

"Yes, when I realized what we were doing. What kind of man does things like that to his baby brother?"

He ignored Uncle Madara's smirk at Sasuke's claim as to why they began. That man didn't need a bigger ego from knowing how often he was right.

"It's a real burden, being right all the time." He mumbled to himself, enjoying the show yet ready to jump in and steer the conversation where he needed it to go. It seemed they would be doing all the work for him, however.

Sasuke cheeks grew hot. "I'm not a baby! I'm no adult, sure, but I'm not some lesser being that you can order around! Both sides of what we were like that, not just our love life! These past two weeks were the nicest you've been in years. Or what would I know? I'm just your kid brother, who can't possibly have my own thoughts or desires." Or is that really how his brother saw him?

"And I already apologized for it! I hadn't realized it at the time." He allowed his facial muscles to show his remorse, because Sasuke had to know his apology was in earnest. "As far as I knew, everything was perfect. It wasn't until you told me otherwise that I had any idea what you were actually thinking. That's not your fault, but you could have spoken up the first time I started being an ass. I would have stopped if I knew you were serious."

"Well you *never* take me seriously! And I had tried before, you know, you just ignored me or brushed it off. You fucking SUCK at communicating!" His voice rose in volume, unintentionally guiding his best friend to them. Naruto was ignored, so he joined the other spectator quietly, who raised a dark eyebrow at his late appearance. Naruto took in Madara's bloody nose, figured he hit his best friend's older brother, and promptly decided to ignore Madara. The man wasn't going to allow that, but Sasuke's shouting was getting too loud and would soon draw attention. "When you're grouchy or concentrating you snap at me, and when you're distracted, sleepy, happy, horny, hungry, or pretty much anything else we can't talk because we're too busy fu—"

"_Ahem_." Madara cleared his throat. "If you would keep your voice down, please." There were still in public, after all.

"Yeah. Sorry." He turned back to his brother. "Anyway, you missed my entire point in breaking off in the first place. I love you. I don't want to leave you—being without you is my personal hell. All I kept thinking about was how much I missed you! But what was I supposed to do?" Little drops of moisture threatened to blur his vision again, and he wanted to smack himself. He just couldn't help it. "I loved you and you were killing me." He couldn't look at the expression on his brother's face. He'd never wanted to cause anybody pain like that.

So he spared a glance at the blonde. He looked like he was going to run over and give him a hug, but that would throw off the whole conversation—the conversation they were *finally* having—so he grabbed hold of that inner strength and told his tears to fuck off.

Loved? The past tense? "I think we're even. You tore apart my entire existence when you left!" Wasn't it obvious how hopeless, miserable, wretched he had become? "I meant what I said about you being my raison d'être; I didn't see that you were the love of my life and it kills me..." he trailed off. He hadn't meant to be so honest, but the dawn of understanding was flickering in Sasuke's dark eyes.

However, if he didn't want it to turn into guilt, moving away from his own pain was necessary. "I'm not making excuses. I just… well, Uncle Madara knows now anyway." His eyes darted to his uncle, and noticed Naruto looked supremely guilty; even his hair was drooping as if the blond spikes were at fault, too. "I'd returned home and intended to make everything right, but then Orochimaru called and threatened to tell Uncle Madara if I didn't leave you alone. I figured if I couldn't have you, I'd at least keep you by my side." Sasuke nodded in reply, accepting at least that last bit. "I was sure Uncle Madara would take you away. It'd be beyond a miracle if he approved of what we'd done, and you've always been his favorite so he'd assume the best of you and the worst of me."

"Kind of happened anyway, huh?" So rarely was Itachi wrong that Sasuke couldn't help enjoying the moment a smidgen, gesturing at Itachi's hand holding his torso where the pain throbbed dully. "It never occurred to you to tell *me* what he'd said? Am I that untrustworthy? I'm so helpless, so _inferior_," he spat, "that you couldn't be bothered to mention that? A conversation regarding me?"

"I'm trying to take care of you! I'm your older brother, like it or not, and my job is to protect you. How was I supposed to keep you safe, and happy, too? I thought I was making the right choice."

"Yeah. I get it. You probably didn't realize it, but you were absolutely right when you said you couldn't handle being the lover of someone you're related to. I mean, you clearly can't think of me as being on the same level as you—"

"But you must admit that in some ways you're not; you're younger and naïve and there is always some amount of authority older siblings have over younger siblings. It's just how the world works."

Although he didn't like it, his brother was back to being right. "So can't we just pretend we aren't?

That would put us on an equal footing." It made sense; if the problem is that they're related, they could employ the age-old Uchiha method of coping and just ignore the issue of shared blood.

"I'd still be a college student dating a high schooler. With our age difference, I'd be breaking the law." He knew Sasuke would roll his eyes at that, and he waited for him to do it before refuting the anticipated retort. "Think of it like this: it'd be on the same spectrum as Uncle Madara dating Naruto."

The two men started at hearing their names. The blonde's face grew a bit red as he scowled but Madara's expression lost none of its customary amusement; his lips' edges actually titled upward a bit.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, then thought about it seriously. Aesthetically there wasn't an issue, but ethically something seemed off. Madara took the opportunity to step in. "Perhaps, then, you should only resume when you are equals."

They both turned and looked at him curiously.

"In two years, Sasuke will be eighteen. He'll be a legal adult and we can reasonably say that he will be able to take care of himself by then. Why don't you two just wait? You can try again at that point."

"No matter how old he gets he'll still be my baby brother." and "What do you mean, *just wait* TWO YEARS?" and "You're encouraging them to try AGAIN?" were said all at the same time.

The brothers looked at each other, but Naruto spoke first. "Itachi's problem is guilt, Sasuke can't handle waiting for shit, and your problem is that Itachi nearly exposed them." Madara nodded for him to continue, which he did not nearly as calmly. "So you beat him up for messing with Sasuke, then tell them to try again? What exactly are you thinking?"

Madara was surprised that this kid had no fear of pissing him off, and looked down at the young blonde with interest. "What is it to you?" Was it possible that someone genuinely cared for his nephews, enough to ignore their obvious issues? He thought his nephews were the best children in the world (generally, anyway) but objectively he knew they were difficult.

Naruto looked away from the intense stare. "I just can't figure out what you're thinking. Do you want them together, or not?"

"If they keep each other happy and safe, then I honestly don't care what they do. I'm only involved because that foolish fool~^," gesturing to his older nephew who was now scowling at him, "thought it'd be a good idea to show a bunch of college idiots exactly how he loves his brother. One didn't react the way Itachi anticipated, and now he needs to come up with a solution, because for all we know Orochimaru has told the wrong people." Naruto frowned, trying to remember what that man looked like. He'd only met Itachi's posse a few times so he wasn't sure.

At his core, Itachi was a problem solver and he couldn't help but sound supremely confident. "I can handle that one. I've beaten Orochimaru in chess; I can outsmart him in everything else."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto giggled at him. "Arrogance just oozes out of your pores, huh?"

"Is it mere arrogance if I can back up my claims?" They smiled, but then Sasuke remembered what they were supposed to be doing and frowned at his uncle.

"How am I supposed to wait two years? I could hardly wait two weeks! Every day was a battle not to jump him, and even though I won the battle over my desires, I still lost my brother."

"I'm sorry, truly." He did look a bit sorry, but the way he flipped his hair over his shoulder told he did not intend to change his mind and that he was annoyed at being argued with. "You two are all that's left of my brother and sister-in-law, and I love you both. But you two weren't able to solve your problem on your own, so of course I'm involved."

Silence stretched out. Neither brother was willing to argue with their uncle, especially when they had no valid argument to be found. Surely they couldn't go along with such an awful plan, but try as they might there seemed to be no other option.

"Group hug!" Naruto shouted to try to defuse the horrible tension. They all ignored him, and he decided to distract himself by drawing patterns in the gravel with his shoe. No wonder the Uchiha were always grumpy. Hugs could fix the world, didn't they know?

"But this is why incest is a problem, you know. How are you supposed to balance it, when countless others have failed before you? Either you give up your brotherhood, which Itachi can't do yet, or you give up being lovers, which you'd only have to do for two years." He grinned without humor. "This isn't really a suggestion. You may hate me for it, but this is the only way I can guarantee that another incident will not occur before Sasuke is legally allowed." And here, his mouth dropped all hints of smiles. "If you cannot comply, I will take Sasuke to live with me. His safety is my priority."

No one said anything, contemplating the mandate. Itachi leaned against the wall, straining to keep the dizziness away. Madara certainly knew how to punch. As for waiting… he hadn't realized Sasuke was suffering as much as he was; it hadn't shown at all that his brother was feeling the same pain he was. Could they wait that long? He knew he could—but only if Sasuke wanted to; at least waiting meant they had hope of reunion, one day when he wasn't burdened by duty.

So... Itachi felt guilty. That would explain some things. Like how he hated being called brother sometimes; he probably thought that he was disappointing mom and dad. How could Itachi have lived with such guilt and never said anything to him? He studied his brother's face, trying to figure out which way to go. Well, they really didn't have a choice here, not with Uncle Madara's decision (and he definitely didn't want to make him angry again. Separation would be a fate worse than death). So if he just agreed to wait, then Itachi wouldn't feel guilty anymore. That thought would have to sustain him.

"Fine." He turned to his uncle. "I'll wait. Like you said, uncle, waiting is probably the best solution." His face must have shown he disagreed to his core and merely wanted to be strong, because before he knew it he was being smothered by his brother. The comforting warmth overwhelmed him, urging him to break his resolve.

Itachi hugged him tight, not letting him squirm away. "Just give me a minute. If I try to hug you later, I might not be able to restrain myself," he whispered. The younger's face flushed slightly, and he buried his face into his brother's chest to hide it. He was exactly the same, though, and lamented how careful they'd have to be to keep from exciting each other accidentally.

Madara was satisfied. "Alright, then, boys. I'll be checking in with you every week, as usual. I'll give you a ride back to—"

"No thank you." Sasuke said with a defiant air, and pulled himself away from his brother though he held onto his arm. His brother's center of balance was off, probably from being punched in the head, and he didn't want the man falling down. "I'm not really in the mood to be around you right now. Just because I'm going along with your plan doesn't mean I like it. Also, you hit my brother and I won't forgive that so easily." His uncle defied expectations and actually smiled a little at the impudent interruption.

"You're just like your father with that attitude."

Sasuke shrugged it off and held out his hand to Naruto. "Keys?" the blonde handed them over without argument. "We'll see you later, Naruto. Goodbye, Uncle Madara." He finished coolly.

The elder brother turned. "Thank you. This could have turned out much worse." They really did get lucky their uncle wasn't too much like their father. To Naruto, he said, "None of this is your fault, kid."

"Yeah." He said, but he didn't sound convinced.

"You should stop by later." He smiled at the boy, and Naruto smiled back—it was such a rare event. Itachi caught up with his brother and didn't look back.

"Why did you thank him?" Sasuke made an effort to keep the annoyance from his tone, but his brother did stuff that made no sense.

"It really could have been a lot worse." breathing this fast stung his torso so he adjusted his pace. "I don't like admitting it, but we're lucky. Orochimaru will be easy enough to bribe. He's a college student—he's got to be desperate for money." He walked alongside his brother, trying to figure what he was thinking. He said he'd wait, but they'd said nothing about getting involved in other relationships in the meantime. Now wasn't the time to ask about that, though. "Are you alright?" The boy seemed a little shaken up, though which part exactly of the past ten minutes was a mystery.

"I'm fine." He replied with a frown. "I should be asking you that. He didn't hurt you too bad, did he? Though, you made him bleed, which is practically a victory by itself." He reached up to touch the readily forming bruise, but his brother flinched away before he could touch it. "Sorry." he mumbled, remembering physical contact would have to be extremely limited if he wanted to avoid making his brother feel guiltier. Sasuke hated the tension between them; it made the air feel thick. "Where's your car? We couldn't find it before, so we got worried."

"We dropped it off at our house, since it was on the way. Didn't make sense to take two cars to the same place."

"I see." Activating the remote unlock, Sasuke wondered why Naruto hadn't used it in the parking lot when they were running away from their teacher. It felt like forever ago. But he was sure that by the time they got home there'd be several messages from his school, informing Itachi what level of trouble his brother had gotten into.

"So you ditched school?" Itachi climbed into the vehicle, hoping he was masking the pain the movement caused. For an old man, Madara kicked damn hard. "It's Friday, so I can't blame you for wanting to get out early." The vague half-smile came out too much like a grimace to convey humor.

He didn't receive a smile in return, and abandoned his attempts to make things less awkward. The car rumbled to life, and Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot and started the drive home with a gentle touch that the vehicle was unaccustomed to.

"You are absolutely right. We are—that is, *I* am terrible at communicating." He checked in the mirror to see how the bruise was forming. "Since I can never tell when you're serious, how about we use a code word? Something that will tell me I'm being ridiculous. Even as brothers, it'd be good to communicate properly." Sasuke nodded, frowning, clearly bothered by something else. "I want to make sure that by the time you're old enough, you still want me." The last was said softly, and the younger began to comprehend exactly what the next two years would be like—two long years filled with aching temptation so near at hand, longings that will have to be suppressed every second of every minute of every hour they spent in the same building.

"What about you?" he asked. All the things his brother never said, for reasons he always seemed to miss, remained just out of focus in his mind's eye. "I never knew you felt guilty."

"I didn't want to worry you." Why yes, magic did exist, because that was the only explanation for how Itachi's faultless rationale suddenly sounded so lame.

"You realize that causes me to worry more? Way to fail." It was said gently, but the tension of unresolved issues and unspoken words made him restless, and he fidgeted with a button on the bottom of his shirt. "You said that it didn't matter how old I got, I'd still be your 'baby brother,' right? That's a problem." Fingers ran through his hair distractedly, making Itachi jealous he couldn't reach over and play with Sasuke's hair too. But he couldn't, not if he wanted to retain control of himself. "It's not like some big violation of the hierarchy of nature for you to lean on me just because I'm younger."

"I suppose." It just felt unusual. Kind of like a one way street suddenly splitting into two, and the traffic adjusting to flowing both ways. "I felt guilty because I kept thinking how dad and mom would feel about it. I doubt they'd be proud." How to explain this feeling…

"You know how when you're swimming underwater for a long time, and all that pressure builds up until the moment you break the surface and breathe again?" Sasuke nodded, unsure where this was going. "I feel a bit like that. That pressure that mom and dad would hate me, that I'm not fulfilling my duty to take care of you no matter what… I feel like it's been there for so long and suddenly I'm breathing again.

"You know me. I don't particularly like talking about my feelings. Especially when talking about an issue isn't going to help—there is nothing you can do to make me feel less guilty or like I haven't let down our parents. Logically, there's no benefit to talking about these things. Rehashing such negative emotions and memories only makes it worse. And whenever somebody told me I'd feel better if I shared my emotions, I thought they were just spouting some shit they'd been fed from the TV. But… as illogical as it is, I *do* feel better saying it to you. I guess it's cause you're my brother and my love, but right now is the first time in years that I feel like I'm breathing again." Thankfully his breathing was alright, which meant the damage wasn't deep.

Had Itachi ever said so much at once? Had he ever been so sincere? Sasuke had no idea, and he didn't really care then. Because he was sure that no matter how close they'd been physically before, here their bond was transcending what normal people had—that supernatural pull, thrumming between them. Sasuke reached across the car and grabbed his brother's hand, unable to stop and aching for some form of contact. "I love you."

"I love you, too." His hand tingled at his brother's touch; he barely smothered the fire that small action caused in his veins. He continued. "But there's another problem. What if I'm not best for you? What if the person you're meant to be with isn't… me?"

The younger slapped the dashboard in frustration, unable to contain himself. "That's exactly how I feel! I've visited your college before, and I've seen how they look at you. It's hard to imagine that out of all the people there, people your age who share your interests and are probably so much easier to deal with, that you would ignore them all for _me_." He swallowed, and went for it. "I won't blame you if you can't wait. If you find someone else—"

"Never!" The abrupt interjection startled him. "Unless it's you, it's no good. As far as I'm concerned, other people don't exist … I hear your voice everywhere, I see your face in strangers on the street," he pointed out the window as they drove through their neighborhood. Itachi pointed, "this one has your nose, this one does that nose-wrinkling thing you do when you smell something gross, that one has a frown that's almost as grumpy as yours…" he smiled sadly. "All I see is you.

Steeling himself, he made the offer he felt he had to. "But if you want someone else—"

"Of course not!" he yelled. He calmed down very quickly when he realized his reaction was exactly the same as his brother's had been a minute before. Also, he needed to stop shouting. It went against the way of the Uchiha and was wearing his throat out. "That really was an insulting question to ask you, but I wanted to make sure. I'm sorry."

"There's no fault to be had, otouto. This is the sort of communication we're trying to improve on, after all." Yes, this was why he hated talking about feelings and sharing and shit. The pain in his head grew, and he was glad he'd be able to lie down soon, maybe even take a nap. "At least now we're aware that these conversations will likely be unpleasant." Sasuke nodded in agreement, but they both knew talking about stuff was the only way things would work out. They didn't have to like it, though.

They were nearly home, and the silence was peaceful; the calm was so at odds with the fights not long before and the pent-up tension throughout recently that they were having a difficult time adjusting. This was all subconscious, of course, but the subconscious knows what it wants and sometimes it has a more powerful pull; it only needs time to gain strength.

"Dolphin." Sasuke said suddenly.

"Um… Flipper?" He supposed the word association game could improve communication, but it seemed more like something Naruto would come up with.

"No, I mean I'll say 'dolphin' when we need to have a serious discussion." The younger looked so serious that Itachi had to assume he wasn't joking. "I'm assuming it won't happen often, but I'd rather be prepared."

"…you don't think that'll make me laugh?"

"I'm counting on it. If you're angry, laughing will distract you. And if you're horny, well… I certainly hope that thinking of dolphins makes that kind of problem go away, too. You can thank Naruto for that one. He convinced Ino that dolphins are just gay sharks, and she believes that blondes can't lie to each other because of some weird hair-alliance that Naruto also told her about." His smile faded a bit, though the affection remained. "Naruto called Uncle earlier today. As far as he could see, Uncle Madara is the only person who could find out who called you, since we figured somebody had to blackmailing you. Anyway, he had good intentions so you can't be angry with him."

"He does have the best intentions, and I can't be angry with a person who's looking out for my brother. I invited him over later, because I think Kisame, Deidara, Hidan and the rest plan on showing up." He watched an embarrassed blush rise on his brother's face. "Technically it'll be to get his car, but I'd understand if you want to leave with him." Until now, Itachi had been able to avoid talking about what happened the night a few weeks prior and therefore hadn't given much thought to what he would tell them. Maybe they could play it off as a joke? He ran through the scenarios in his mind, analyzing whether each person would believe the lie and what he'd have to do to convince them.

"That reminds me: you guys kept mentioning Orochimaru, but he wasn't even there that night. Besides, I thought you two were friends?"

"I told him to stay away from you because he was hitting on you, which evolved into staying away from our house and me, too. Kisame backed me up because he has a raging crush on me." He tried not to smile at the jealous scowl that statement generated, while not bothering to hide the disgust at his next, "Deidara agreed cause he thought he was 'defending your honor' or something. Orochimaru has always been sort of an outsider, so nobody really cared when he stopped showing up."

"Really?" He parked the car and climbed out, watching, this time, his brother—and there was the wince he thought he'd seen earlier. "We need to get you an ice pack. Are you sure he was hitting on me? He wasn't just being his weird self?"

"No, I'm sure he's only 'weird' for you. How could you not have noticed?" He unlocked the door and headed straight for the kitchen. "Where do we keep the first aid kit? Though I don't think there's any blood." Finding the kit under the sink, he sat on the edge of the table, got out some bandages and activated the ice pack. Slipping off his shirt and cringing at the swelling and the bruise beginning to form. "Uncle hits damn hard. I thought he'd stopped training years ago, but apparently he keeps up with his exercise."

"Do you need any help?" He dumped his backpack in his room quickly, then returned to the kitchen to lend his aid. "And did you eat enough? I'm starving. I'll make you something if you want." He set some water to boil and retrieved a blue box from the cabinet.

"Isn't there something more important you should be asking?" Itachi studied his brother, watching his movements in the kitchen come to halt at the question. The uncertain look on Sasuke's face was adorable. "Throw me an ice pack from the freezer, would you please?"

Sasuke complied, oddly excited at hearing aniki say please. It gave him ideas for when Itachi got past his guilt, all the things he could do to make him say please over and over… "Er, what would you like to eat?" he guessed. He didn't care; he was making his mac 'n cheese no matter what Itachi said.

"I thought you'd be curious about the plan for when my friends come over." He noted the squirm and resolved to set all his fears to rest. It wasn't right for his brother to be so uncomfortable in his own home; next week he'd arrange for his friends to meet elsewhere. Though, the original point of meeting at Itachi's was so Sasuke wouldn't be alone so maybe he'd convince his brother to spend weekends at Naruto's or something. "At the very least, I assumed you would be wondering if they've said anything in the past weeks."

"Well, have they?" Rarely did Itachi look pathetic, but pathetic it was to see him struggle to wrap the bandages around his torso to hold the ice packs in place. He left the water to heat on the stove. "Lift your arms, I'll help you." With his arms raised enough to be out of the way, Sasuke tenderly passed the wrap from hand to hand, meeting in the back in a poor imitation of a hug. This sort of hug felt more intimate than anything they'd done lately, so close they were practically breathing the same air.

"Thanks." Having otouto near was a comfort in itself, he thought, peering down at the top of Sasuke's head. "First tell me why you didn't ask about their reactions before now. Please." He added, remembering his resolution to treat Sasuke like an equal. Not equal in height yet, thank goodness. He hoped that would never happen. Little else could make an older sibling feel time pass.

"No, you tell me first."

"*You* first."

"*You* first, times infinity."

He almost fell into the childish trap, then relented. "Fine. I'll go first. I've avoided the issue like only an Uchiha could, and I intend to make them think it was an elaborate prank."

"And you think that'll work?"

"Why not? I've calculated for their reactions, and besides, I don't need to convince them it was truly a joke. I just need to convince them that they want to think it was a joke." He shrugged nonchalantly. "All that aside, I'm me, aren't I?"

"Oh. I see you've got your confidence back." The words were out and he hadn't really meant to say them. They were true anyhow. His brother had been walking around recently like he'd been waiting for earthquakes to hit.

"No, I've got you back." Overcome for a moment and desperate for contact, he laid a hand on his head and patted otouto's soft hair.

Unconsciously Sasuke smiled in return and finished, tucking the end of the bandage roll into the other layers. "I didn't want to ask because I figured you had some ridiculous plan that shouldn't even work but will work because it's you—but oh wait, that's exactly what this is." He sighed and looked into his brother's eyes—he'd been avoiding them for so long and now gazing freely again he wasn't sure how he'd been resisting. "Do you need me to do anything?"

Itachi made a gesture to the stove. "I'll have some tea in the study, please, but otherwise I need you to relax and allow me to take care of everything."

"Can I… no, never mind."

"Don't start withholding things from me already."

"I..." he turned it over in his mind. Resolved, he started again. "I want to confront Deidara, on my own. I'm not persuasive enough to sway the others, but I want to do what I can. I led him on, so I will lead him off." He thought for a moment. "Or out? Off is the opposite of on, but 'lead him off' just sounds weird. Anyway," he squared his shoulders. "Get him to stop hitting on me. That's what I'm going to do."

"Confronting people, fending off older men…" He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "My baby brother's all grown up." A small part of him was sincere, though. Apparently Sasuke was more mature than he let show.

"Shut up" was all he got back but he could hear the smile in the command so he knew it was all in good fun.

True to his word, Itachi let his friends know that they thought it was a joke. In a rare display of his authority, he scared the shit out of half of them and the other half considered it too troublesome to disagree.

"So you're taken, huh? You would be." Deidara did not look particularly happy at the revelation, but he didn't look very surprised either. It seemed as if he was going to walk out of the kitchen, but he dashed back for a moment to give his little crush a quick kiss on the cheek. "If you ever break up with your boyfriend, I'm available." The blonde winked and ran back out, determined to harass his new best friend playfully, who (like himself) happened to be blonde and somewhat obnoxious.

Sasuke sighed quietly in relief that the blonde hadn't been difficult. As he left the kitchen, he high-fived his brother in victory.

Naruto had arrived just before the others, so the noise level in the house was consistently loud from just before sunset until about two in the morning. With the house quiet, clean, and finally to themselves, Sasuke plopped onto the couch. "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"

"Absolutely." Itachi agreed and dropped down next to him. "I'm not tired at all though."

"Wanna watch a movie?" he suggested, though he was already putting in the nearest DVD he could find since it didn't really matter what they watched. "That puts you to sleep faster than any of the sleeping pills we've got."

"Sure." Barely an hour into it, Sasuke was snoring against his aniki's arm. Itachi slipped his arm from under the blanket and held his brother close. Nothing could replace the comforting warmth of his brother beside him. He was tempted, *so* tempted to ignore what Uncle Madara's mandate. Guilt? What guilt? Admitting to Sasuke that he'd felt guilty at all had released the pressure, and seeing just how mature his brother had been tonight ignited a different kind of pressure altogether.

What could it hurt? Sasuke surely wanted this. Gradually he twisted a little and leaned down, breath falling on his brother's lips as he inched closer. No reason he shouldn't ravish Sasuke. No reason to stop, because Sasuke had said earlier that he still loved him…

"Hmm… 'tachi…" his brother mumbled sleepily. Eyelids twitched but didn't open. Nevertheless, the spell was broken, though. All their troubles sprang from miscommunications, and if he was going to do this with his brother, they were going to do it properly. Plus he didn't want his uncle coming after him again.

"Let's get you to your bed." Although the hushed words were directed towards his brother, he was really talking to himself and therefore surprised when Sasuke opened his eyes and huffed, throwing the blanket off them.

"How did that not work? You were so close, too. Does my breath stink?" Sasuke did not seem sleepy at all. In fact, he wasn't sleepy because he hadn't been sleeping. He checked his breath, and finding it as usual, slumped back on the couch.

"I wasn't going to start anything without making sure I'm understanding you properly." At least he had been right about what Sasuke wanted. He clicked off the TV to stop the extraneous noise.

A dark eyebrow rose. "I said your name while pretending to be asleep, snuggled against your arm. Is there even another way to interpret that?"

"Are you sure you want to go against what Uncle Madara said?"

"Give me a break. I'm his favorite." Without really deciding to, he sat up and swung a leg over his brother's lap. Even after so long, it was all so natural that Itachi didn't really think about it either as he wrapped one arm around his hips to pull him closer, both softly groaning as their groins met, and the other arm trailed up his back to settle in the soft hair. "He was more upset that people found out than anything else."

"He nearly broke one of my ribs." He said defensively with what might have been a pout. Soothingly, Sasuke patted the wound.

"Alright, he cares about people finding out *and* if you hurt me. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He murmured. Itachi allowed himself to be hugged tightly, biting back a grin when Sasuke's breath tickled his neck. "I would give it all to not be sleeping alone."

"So you want to have doubly forbidden sex behind our Uncle's back?" This wasn't hesitation; he just wanted to be absolutely sure that Sasuke knew what he was getting into this time.

"Well I'd rather not do it anywhere near his back, but yes. Please." He whispered, stroking aniki's hair and gliding his fingers down his neck, over his shirt to his stomach. "Do you really need me to say it?"

"I love hearing all the fantastically naughty things you come up with, but right now I only want four words." No longer could he wait. Pulling his brother's head to his mouth, he finally reunited with Sasuke. They kissed wildly, not building slowly but pushing his tongue to Sasuke's and groaning aloud when his brother sucked on it. It was rough and needy and perfect. Sasuke tasted as good as ever—this was the taste he'd longed for. He drew back for a moment. "I love you."

Sasuke breathlessly breathed "I love you, too" before aniki was devouring his mouth again. A string of saliva escaped, sliding down his chin, but he didn't care. His arousal flared, bright as a bonfire, and he ground his hips into Itachi's. The answering groan was accompanied by a brief struggle with their shirts, and Sasuke stood above his brother on the couch to step out of his pants and underwear. Below, Itachi slid out of his. "Damn, that's hot." Sasuke settled onto his brother lap, their erections brushing against each other as Itachi licked along his neck. "How have I gone so long without you?"

Otouto's answer was to snake a hand into his brother's hair and push Itachi higher up on his neck, arching into him as he focused on the spot below Sasuke's ear that made him squirm. The younger retaliated by grasping both their erections in one hand and slowly dragging his hand up from their balls to the very tips of their dicks, giving Itachi's a light pinch with the edges of his fingers. "fuck!"

He smirked, tugging on his brother's ear with his teeth. "That's right… just fuck me already." Ever mindful of the bandages, he massaged the skin above and below it, paying special attention to the area around Itachi's bellybutton. Aniki mashed their mouths together, turned on ever more by the dirty words spilling from his brother's soft lips. He could practically taste them in the strokes of his tongue and dragged his brother's lip between his teeth then flicking his tongue out to taste it as he retreated.

"Gladly, otouto." Gathering saliva trailing between them, he grazed his fingers against his brother's hole, enjoying the little movement Sasuke's hips made as they jerked the slightest bit closer to him. His brother watched him, panting, as he gently slid the first finger in. A few pumps were enough, and he slid the second one in with little difficulty. Otouto was helping him along now, resting his hand on his brother's shoulders and dipping his hips with the motions of Itachi's hands. "Come on… hurry up." He mumbled.

The urgency in his voice reminded Itachi of how much he ached to be inside his brother. He slid his third finger alongside the other two. Sasuke, in his impatience to be filled with his brother, waited until the tips of the fingers were inside him then slammed his hips down. They gasped simultaneously; Sasuke hadn't felt this full in weeks and Itachi had run out of resolve to be patient.

His fingers only stayed in long enough to wiggle a little, but that would have to be enough. Smirking at his brother, he fished around in the couch and brought his hand back out with a condom. "bought a few packs of these, coming home from the gym that morning. I hid them everywhere I thought we might use 'em." Sasuke looked pleased but was still impatiently tugging at his ponytail. He laid his brother down on the couch, and Sasuke's hand found their places in his hair and encircling his shoulder. Itachi put the tip in, and paused to make sure he could watch his brother's face as he entered. He was sure otouto had never looked hotter. Sweat made the strands of hair stick to his forehead, and his pale face was flushed red.

"Love you. Hurry." Only Sasuke could sound so impatient, desperate, and adoring at one moment. He smiled and steadily pushed in. Dark eyes opened wide, and he gasped inaudibly as he wrapped his legs around his brother's waist. There was no holding back the loud moan as Itachi pushed all the way into that tight heat. "Ohh…" slipped out seductively, causing Sasuke to ignore the sting and force his brother's head down to meet his mouth. Their kiss was messy but passionate, and Itachi licked his cheek as pulled back and started slowly grinding into his brother.

He didn't have to ask how he wanted it; Itachi knew otouto liked it slow but hard, and grinding his hips in with every thrust drove him crazy. His brother squirmed and moaned and clutched at him, voice rising at each drive into his most sensitive areas. "Ahh… yeah… keep doing that… mmmm…"

Every noise brought Itachi closer to his climax. Going for so long without fucking was too much, and they both felt it building much too quickly but they couldn't stop. Itachi would pull out, then thrust in hard as Sasuke's legs jerked him in harder. "So fucking... good!" he nearly screamed. "Ahh! right there! yes, yes!" Nothing could match the feeling of his brother's long dick reaching deep inside him, filling him.

Itachi's body moved on its own, thrusting as deep as he could into the tightness of his brother's ass. "Damn, otouto… you feel amazing." He hadn't realized he'd called him 'brother,' but it threw Sasuke over the edge. "Ohh… FUCK!" he tightened his arms around his brother as his cum burst out of his dick and onto their stomachs. Itachi managed a few more thrusts, then emptied his seed within his only brother. "Fuck… Sasuke."

Though he thought Itachi was a bit heavy, the last thing he wanted was his brother to move. Gradually they caught their breaths, and Itachi inched down so he could take most of his weight off otouto's lungs and laid his head on his brother's chest. Subconsciously Sasuke's hand drifted to his brother's hair, sifting through it, removing the tangles he'd made.

"In about ten minutes I'll be ready to go again. But for now, I can honestly say I've never been happier."

Sasuke smiled and kissed the top of his brother's head. "Me too."

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~ quote by Oscar Wilde. Quite amusing, but unfortunately here, untrue.

The thing about Naruto having "too much bleach" is a pun. You know, like too many chemicals in his brain AND too much of Bleach? Haha? I think it's funny, anyway.

^ if you haven't seen Code Geass, then go watch it. Cause Lelouch says "the world won't change with pretty words alone" often, and even though Madara doesn't say it here the dramatically awesomely fabulous way that Lelouch says it, he said something very similar before I realized Lelouch's version is better. thus the quote.

^* a line from Jane Eyre. I found it while writing a paper on it the other week and thought it described perfectly how Sasuke's tone overpowered the situation (because there's no other way he could boss people around)

"foolish fool"~^ from the parody of Lady Gaga's song "Bad Romance." It's called "Leather Pants," it's Yu-gi-oh themed, and it freakin' rocks.

And don't you just picture Madara with a posh British accent? For some reason every time I see him I expect him to go "all right, chaps, stop fighting! It's teatime, you cheeky blighters so if you don't behave I'll summon her majesty and would you like some biscuits?" hahahaha I hope I have now poisoned at least some of you. One of my fantasies is to inspire people… this is not the kind of thing I was aiming for but if I'm inspiring at any level I'll count it a victory!

And yes, I'm sure there are mistakes and things that don't make sense. The amount of editing this work has gone through beats probably any legislation passed in the entire US ever.

But I'm writing two papers and coming up with a presentation all just this weekend, so take pity on this poor writer and tell me what I did wrong. Any feedback is good feedback, but great feedback is specific. Feel free to quote me on that! Hahaha everything is funny at this time of night.


	4. Chapter 4

Just an extra thing, because I took so long. And I can't resist playing with these characters.

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The elder brother turned. "Thank you. This could have turned out much worse." They really did get lucky their uncle wasn't too much like their father. To Naruto, he said, "None of this is your fault, kid."

"Yeah." He said, but he didn't sound convinced.

"You should stop by later." He smiled at the boy, and Naruto smiled back—it was such a rare event. Itachi caught up with his brother and didn't look back.

Naruto squinted up at his best friend's uncle. "Why were you pretending to be nice? And you seemed like such a good guy on the phone." He crossed his arms, remembering all that Sasuke had said about his uncle. From what he'd said, his uncle was the kindest man in all the land. "When we talked earlier, you made it sound like you wouldn't go beat Itachi up."

"Who says I was pretending to be nice?" He ignored the rest of what Naruto said. It's not like it's really his business anyway what an uncle does to his nephew.

"Your eyes. You don't smile right, and it's unsettling."

"I don't want to hear that from a brat like you." So much for this kid being a good influence. He should've known that any descendent of his former sensei would have a mouth like that.

"I'm right, though. I just don't know which direction you're going in." He started walking towards parking lot. "Either you're still planning on hurting them, or you're planning on hurting someone else."

He looked up at the man walking beside him, and noted how angry he seemed all of a sudden. "Are you taking your anger out on me because—" he was slammed against the wall, much in the same way Itachi had been. This time, though, Madara had a decidedly different intent.

He matched the young blonde arm for arm, pinning them to the wall and keeping his body too close for Naruto to use his legs to kick him away. "What do you know?" The older man was angry, yes, but for what he was thinking he wanted the boy thoroughly creeped out, not bruised, bloodied, or scared. With decisive movements he slid his leg between the young boys' and roughly rubbed it against his groin. "You don't know anything, Na-ru-to." he let each syllable fall delicately from his mouth.

Naruto clenched his teeth. "What the hell?" Wriggling had no effect. "If you don't let me go, I'll scream." He threatened. It had been too long since he'd fought somebody Madara's size, and he was embarrassed that he had been taken off guard so easily.

"I don't intend to let you go… but I will make you scream." Suddenly the blonde wouldn't meet his eyes anymore, and he knew it was working. "Before, what Itachi was saying—you disagree, right?" He bent closer slowly so he wouldn't startle his prey. A little more, then he'd be able to carry out stage two. "It wouldn't be wrong at all for you and me to do all the things you've been longing to do… with Sasuke."

The glaze coming over the brilliant blue eyes was thrown off a nasty piece of seaweed. "Fuck you." Naruto stomped on Madara's foot, then used the slight backstep that caused to push Madara's leg away from his groin and give a jab of his own knee to his gut. He was shorter than his opponent, but he wasn't trying to incapacitate. Once Madara stepped back he dashed out from between the man and the wall and got to the open parking lot.

He looked back and waited carefully, guarded this time. The older man was not pleased that his plan had failed, but at least he knew three things: one, the kid was most definitely related to his old teacher. Two, baiting and coercing would not work on a person like Naruto. And three, he'd been right—the blonde was absolutely in love with his youngest nephew.

"All I want to know is what you intend to do with my best friend and his most cherished person. We both know that before the weekend is over, they'll be lovers again." He defiantly looked at the man, summoning all the determination in his soul. "I'll do whatever it takes to get you to leave them be, even if I have to fight you."

Fighting back a laugh, Madara decided to forgive the boy for his impudence. Perhaps Naruto wasn't so bad after all; when was the last time anyone had inspired him even to think about laughing? "As it turns out, I plan to do nothing with them unless they make their private issues public again."

"Good." He appeared relieved, though he'd never look at Sasuke's uncle the same way again. That man's sanity resided somewhere between creepy and bat-shit crazy. "But if you ever do anything, I'll kill you, find my grandpa, and get him to kill you again." His attempt to leave dramatically failed partly because he was not a smooth person and partly because he just remembered that he was supposed to get a ride with Madara. The man he'd just threatened to kill. Oops.

Sheepishly, he turned around. The Uchiha was standing with one hand jingling his keys and the other on his cell phone. "Would you like to get in the car, or should I call Jiraiya-sensei and inform him that his mischievous grandson is skipping school?"

Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably. While the answer appeared obvious, his sense were buzzing, telling him there was more to it than meets the eye. "Where are we going?"

"I intend to take you up on that offer. You say you'll do anything for my nephews? Then you'll need to do a little favor for me."

Well that didn't sound encouraging. But Naruto couldn't help being who he was. "Fine. What must I do?"

Orochimaru was not having a good day. He'd recently tattled on somebody he'd once considered a friend, and it didn't sit well with him. He should have known better than to act while he was upset, by the hypocrisy of the situation drove him mad!

Anyway, he sincerely hoped it worked out for them. Itachi didn't deserve happiness, but a cute little kid like his younger brother did. He rubbed his temples as he waited for the water to boil. Perhaps all he needed was a nice cup of tea, and then he'd be able to concentrate on his homework. All this stress was beginning to get to him; his hair had been considerably less shiny since he'd started this project and he was eager for it to be over with.

Barely had he begun when the doorbell rang. Unusual and unwelcome, but he grudgingly answered the door. "Yes?" His tone changed from annoyance to shock quite quickly. Why was a blonde high schooler at his doorstep? He looked vaguely familiar. "Can I help you?"

Naruto nervously bit his lip. "Umm, yes. My battery died and I need to call my grandpa. Can I use your phone?"

Every documentary and lifetime movie that warned against letting strangers into his home flashed through his mind, warning him of the consequences. "Sure." He stepped back to let the blonde through. What could a young boy possibly do? "My phone is right there on the table."

"Right." Naruto looked at it like it would bite him or something. Somewhat sarcastically, Orochimaru asked, "do you need help figuring out how to dial? Just press the numbers and hit 'send' to make your call."

The boy half glared up at him and Orochimaru noticed how nervous the boy looked and immediately felt bad. "Are you okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

'Great,' Naruto thought. 'It figures this guy wouldn't be the total douche-bag Madara made him sound like. However, he'd given his word to do this. Plus there was the reward waiting for him.

"I don't want to burden you with this, but I am in a bit of trouble." Taking advantage of his innocent looks, he let his eyes dart nervously around and twiddled his thumbs. "You see, there's this man who's after me." As he made his way over to the windows, he checked that Orochimaru was following him. The older man looked quite concerned, but Naruto squashed all thoughts of turning back. 'Just think of your reward! You can do this!'

"Why? What does he look like?" Naruto edged a little closer to the windows, grateful that the curtains were open and that these were to the side of the house—from the street, this could seem very suspicious.

"He's about your height, and he has long dark hair." He was leaning against the window now, looking as pathetic and adorable as he could. "He's wearing jeans a white t-shirt." Orochimaru completely missed that Naruto had just described him.

"Would you like to stay here for while? I can call the police for you." Even if the boy wasn't cute he'd help a stranger, but cuteness was a factor. Who could resist such a perfect little angel? This kid would be great in his photography project. The young blonde would truly capture the spirit of happiness running around with some puppies…

"NO!" Naruto startled all three of them. "I mean, no. I'll be fine in a moment. I just need… some comfort."

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side in confusion, his dark hair swishing to the side. "Comfort?"

Close enough. Naruto moved forward and grabbed the man, hooking his leg and tipping back so that Orochimaru fell on top of him. Although he couldn't see the flashes of light, he heard the sound of several clicks. "What on earth? Are you alright? Was that lightning just now?" The bigger man jumped off of Naruto and went to help him up.

However, Naruto ignored him. The boy mumbled something; it sounded like he was repeating two words over and over. He went to inquire further about the strange behavior, but the doorbell rang and, thinking perhaps he'd scare off this boy's pursuer, he opened the door aggressively. Yet Madara was standing there, holding up a digital camera. "Say 'cheese,' pervert."

"What? Madara-sensei?"

"Yes, that's a very nice expression. You look absolutely shocked to be caught molesting a young boy." Naruto had suddenly appeared under Madara's arm, clinging to Orochimaru's history teacher and staring at his shoes. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Orochimaru."

"What?" He was still completely baffled.

"It means," Madara explained calmly, "that if you ever think about trying to threaten my nephews again, I'll release these photos of you molesting a child."

"But that's not what happened!" He exclaimed indignantly.

"It's your word against pictures. You're going to lose." His smirk settled into place. Ah, it was a good day to be Madara Uchiha.

Orochimaru looked beseechingly at the blonde, but he was ignored as the boy kept repeating those two words he could almost make out. "Bye." Madara reached out to shut the door for him, and just as the door was clicking, Orochimaru heard the two words said under the blonde's breath.

For what reason did Naruto aid in the blackmail of a poor college student? What did the blonde nearly traumatize himself for?

"Ice cream." Naruto mumbled again, climbing quickly into the car. If he just focused on the ice cream that was to come, he would forget that he just aided in the blackmail of a halfway decent man.

"Yes, I'll buy you ice cream now."

* * *

So Orochimaru wasn't a total douche, but that was because I kept forgetting that he couldn't just disappear. oops :) and now to work on finishing Artist!

hahahhaaaa... it really isn't funny. I need to write stuff I'm getting graded on and am paying to be graded on. so probably soon, but by now I'm sure I've jinxed myself. Just know that every night that I try to fall asleep, I'm planning the rest of it. Sometimes I think about it too much and get excited and have to write things down, or else I can't sleep.


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